A Tale of 25 Decembers
by McSquidster
Summary: It started with a war of a Christmas lights, grew over the course of more than a few awkward dates and some mishaps they'd rather forget, and ended with a promise of eternity. A Fluffy Nalu, Friendship to Romance, Christmas/Winter AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Yeah, so this story might be kind of ridiculous, but hopefully it's the good, enjoyable kind of ridiculous…Anyways, here's my 2018 Christmas present, with one chapter each day until the 25** **th** **! Enjoy!**

* * *

It started with a war of Christmas lights.

Jude and Layla Heartfilia had always had a reputation of going all-out for the winter holidays, their Christmas light display by far the most extravagant on Strawberry Street. None of their neighbors had ever even tried to compete, though admittedly, none of them really cared for the unspoken competition in which the Heartfilias were the only contestants.

But in May of 1994, the couple met their match, though they wouldn't know it until later that year, specifically not until the Friday after Thanksgiving.

The Dragneels had seemed like a nice enough family when they'd moved into the house next door, and not even being seven months pregnant had stopped Layla from going to greet their new neighbors, a plate piled high with freshly baked brownies in her grasp. Grandeeny had accepted them as graciously as she could with the nearly one-year-old pinkette squirming in her arms, the little Dragneel boy fighting with everything he had to get a look at what was on the plate.

And when Layla had given birth to a little girl on the first of July, the Dragneels had been there to support their neighbors of two months, cooking all kinds of casseroles and desserts for the new parents while they adjusted to life with a child.

But then Thanksgiving came and went, and the Christmas lights went up…and things got fierce.

At first, Jude hadn't though much of it when he went out to begin the lengthy process that was stringing the lights onto their roof, trees, fence, and whatever other surfaces he could possibly throw some lights onto to achieve maximum Christmas spirit and pizzazz, simply giving Igneel a pleasant and quick wave in greeting as his neighbor went about putting up his own lights on the roof of his home.

It was only when Jude had emptied three storage bins of lights that he realized Igneel was still outside, and he was _still_ putting up lights, having moved on to the small trees that decorated their front yard. If he was putting up a normal amount of lights, then there was no way he wasn't done yet, and that's when the idea of the arrival of a possible rival entered Jude's mind.

When the sun set and their own display was lit, the Heartfilia's suspicions were confirmed. The house next door was shining just as brightly, possibly even _brighter_ than their own, which was absolutely n _ot acceptable._

That night, the Heartfilias declared war on the Dragneels. No one had more Christmas spirit than they did and they were determined as hell to prove it.

The next day, Jude went and bought more lights, and up they went, too, as well as the light-up reindeer and candy canes that Layla had purchased to place across the yard.

A few days later, more lights went up on the Dragneel's home, and the Christmas tree, which was very visible through their front window, had a bit of extra shine, no doubt now donning a few more light strands and glittery ornaments.

The unspoken war had begun, and it was not fought without losses, each week giving way to a whole slew of new lights and Christmas figurines scattered across both yards.

On December nineteenth, Igneel had been stringing more lights on one of the tallest trees on his property when the first, and only, casualty of the war took place. Unlike his first day of stringing lights, there was certainly plenty of snow piled in his yard now, and his trek through it had wet the bottoms of his shoes. His decorating had gone fine for the first few minutes, but when he'd moved to climb a rung higher on his ladder, his foot slipped, sending him tumbling into the tightly packed snow below. His fall resulted in a broken wrist and a rather nasty gash to the jaw that left him with a, in his words, 'fucking badass' x-shaped scar.

The war was nearly forgotten the moment the Heartfilias heard about what had happened, the couple's guilt over initiating the petty battle leading to a truce, their apology coming in form of an invitation to Christmas dinner.

The Dragneels had accepted the treaty graciously, though not without a few conditions of their own, namely that Grandeeny would irrefutably be the one to bring the mashed potatoes and gravy, as well as her famous apple pie for desert.

The two families found themselves coming together on Christmas day after the presents had been opened and the ham had been baked, gathering at the table in the Heartfilia's humble dining room with both of their children seated in high chairs next to their parents and their trays filled only with foods that were appropriate for kids their age, though Igneel kept sneaking his son some mashed potatoes when his wife wasn't looking. During their meal, the four adults were taken back to before their little war had begun, recalling how they'd lived in amiable companionship in the months before that fateful Friday after Thanksgiving had come. There was nothing but genuine pleasantries to be exchanged as they returned to the way things had been, and even a few joking jabs about who had claimed victory were harmlessly tossed around, though a settlement was never reached due to the insistence of the families' patriarchs.

After dinner had been eaten and the table cleared, Grandeeny let her squirming little boy down from his high chair so he could crawl and maybe waddle around for a bit, though walking wasn't one of strong-suits just yet.

A few more moments of joyous conversation passed between the adults before Grandeeny's focus slid across the living room to do her routine check on her son to make sure he wasn't off wreaking havoc in her neighbor's home, the little pinkette having the tendency to get into everything and anything and somehow possessing the ability to climb atop every surface possible even though he could barely walk three steps without falling flat on his face.

Her heart nearly stopped, but also warmed a tiny fraction when she found him near where Layla had set Lucy to lay on a blanket beneath her star-filled mobile, the little boy unusually quiet and holding almost perfectly still. Natsu had sat himself right next to the little blonde, his back to his mother.

As Grandeeny saw one of the pinkette's chubby arms move towards Lucy, her heart leapt in her chest, because her son sure as hell was not coordinated enough and far too wild to avoid hurting the little girl. She nearly shot out of her seat to rush towards them, but a certain sound fluttered through the air, both stopping her advance and drawing the attention of the other three adults.

It was a giggle, clearly from Lucy, and it was soon followed by more, both from the blonde and from the salmon haired boy at her side.

Layla stood and slowly approached the two children so as not to disturb them, her hand settling atop her heart at the overwhelming adorableness of what was happening on the ground before her. Grandeeny soon joined her in her swooning, the two women gushing over their kids as their husbands chuckled in accompaniment.

Natsu's chubby little fingers were playing with Lucy's tiny nose, his little stockinged feet wriggling against her side. The blonde didn't seem at all bothered by him, her wide, brown eyes fastened on him as she continued to giggle, her laughter cueing Natsu's own.

That night, as their watched their children play together, the Heartfilias and Dragneels decided that there was definitely room for two ultra-festive houses on Strawberry Street, and sharing Christmas dinner became a tradition, the two children growing ever closer with each December that passed.

* * *

 **AN**

 **AHHHHH I'm so excited for Christmas you guys, and I'm so excited for this story! I was going to post it on Christmas day last year as a one-shot, but then stuff happened and I wasn't up to finishing it, so I decided to postpone it for this year. And in my attempts to spruce it up a bit, it has evolved into something incredibly different from what it was originally.**

 **But I'm still super excited about it, and I hope you guys are, too, because we get a chapter every single day until the final chapter on Christmas! This story will be formatted in a way that every chapter highlights certain events of a specific December (hence the title), so we'll get to see Natsu and Lucy's story through the years, starting with this chapter, when they're born, to when they're 25/24. An easy way to keep track of things is to remember that Natsu will always be the same age as the chapter number, and then Lucy's a year younger than him.** **Some of these first chapters will be really short snippets that are under a thousand words since their age limits the stuff I can do with them, but when they get older, the chapters should be of decent length.**

 **But yeah, this will probably be the fluffiest thing I'll ever write, so enjoy it while it lasts. There'll be the tiniest, littlest sprinkling of angst in one chapter, but it'll mostly be fluffy, happy cuteness about them growing up and going from friends to lovers, and at the end, we'll get a tiny tiny tiny bit lemony. There won't actually be a lemon, but it'll sure as hell be implied ;) We'll also get sprinkles of some other ships, like Gruvia, Jerza, and Gajevy too!**

 **Also, since this story is like, 75% inspired by events in my own life and the other 25% is random, made up fluff, it'll have a bit to do with ballet since I was a ballet dancer up until I graduated high school, and this year is only the second year that I can remember where I haven't had my December be swamped with Nutcracker rehearsals. Lucy will eventually become a ballet dancer, so just know that that's a big part of who she is in this story too (hence her wearing pointe shoes in the cover).**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading and I hope you come back again tomorrow to read the next chapter!**

 **Hint for next chapter: First snowfall**


	2. Chapter 2

The sun sparkled against the freshly fallen snow, turning the landscape into a field of diamonds. White flakes continued to fall from the sky, fluttering through the air and piling high on top of the nearly seven inch blanket already on the ground. The roads had yet to be plowed, leaving the residents of Strawberry Street with no easy way of leaving their homes. But the Heartfilias and Dragneels weren't complaining, both couples happily taking advantage of the snow day and merrily enjoying the first snowfall of the year with their children.

The yard of the Hearfilia home was filled with giggles as Jude gently carted his one-year-old daughter around on a plastic sled, the blonde absolutely swaddled in layers upon layers of coats and sweaters and scarves per Layla's insistence. Lucy resembled a fluffy pink marshmallow, but she was undoubtedly kept incredibly warm, the tip of her little nose tinged only the slightest shade of red from the cold.

Next door, the little, two-year-old Dragneel boy was in a similar state of bundles and bunches, standing completely still in the spot where his father had first set him down in the middle of the yard and staring at the mass of white on the ground before him, eyes wide as if in fear. Natsu could walk just fine now, but the puffy red snow pants that were gathered in puffy bunches on his short little legs made the once simple task difficult, especially when the snow was piled as high as it was.

"Come on, Natsu," Grandeeny called softly, video camera held at the ready and waiting for her son to do _something._ He hadn't been able to go out in the snow much last year due to how little he'd been, so Grandeeny had prepared his winter clothes for this year with euphoric anticipation, excitedly awaiting her son's reaction to the world once it had been blanketed with white. She hadn't anticipated his state of complete stillness given his normally crazy, impulsive nature, nor had she ever seen him look so afraid of something before. He normally handled whatever came his way with a laugh and a little grin before going back to how he normally was, in most cases, completely unbothered by anything out of the ordinary. And sure, raising a child as wild and unpredictable as him posed a new challenge every day, but he was _her_ kid, and she wouldn't trade him for the world. He'd brought her and Igneel more joy than they'd ever known before, his unadulterated, genuine happiness and spit-fire curiosity warming their heart on the daily.

But now, she was seeing an entirely different side of him. He still hadn't moved, and he barely even flinched when Igneel began to scoop up small handfuls of the powdery snow to lightly toss them in his direction in an attempt to get some sort of reaction. While Grandeeny might like to believe her little salmon haired son was in awe, she could clearly tell that he was terrified, and maybe a bit sad too given the way his bottom lip was beginning to puff out. Playing outside was one of his favorite things, and to see his playground covered in something so foreign and so cold must've made him upset.

Lucy, on the other hand, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying every second of her time in the snow, giggles and shrieks of joy escaping her lips in endless streams. Jude had her in his arms now, the little blonde looking skywards and reaching out to catch the falling flakes as her father crossed into the Drangeel's yard to exchange good tidings with his neighbors.

"Natsu doesn't like the snow much?" Jude chuckled, his eyes on the frigid Dragneel boy.

Grandeeny let out a heavy sigh, though she still had her video camera at the ready, not willing to give up on capturing a good moment even as she dejectedly concurred, "I guess not."

"I don't blame him," Igneel jested, folding his arms proudly over his chest, "I'm not a 'winter and snow' kind of guy either. Guess he just takes after his dad."

Lucy's focus had drifted to Natsu too, her giggling ceasing for a moment as she quietly looked over her friend. But her grin was soon flashing back to life, her voice bright and chipper as she exclaimed, "Daddy down!"

"Alright, dear."

The snow crunched beneath Lucy's booted feet as Jude set her right before the salmon haired boy, the blonde immediately reaching down to grab a handful of snow. She spent a good moment gathering and balancing the pile between her two tiny, mitten-covered hands as if trying to make it look presentable, a bright smile on her face as she straightened herself out with her hands full of white flakes.

Lucy shuffled a bit closer to the salmon haired boy, missing a few letters and sounds as she held the snow out towards him and happily jabbered, "Nasu. Sow."

The boy silently looked between her face and the pile in her hands, his little brows furrowed in hesitation.

"Sow," she introduced again, shuffling even closer to him so that her hands were bumping against his chest.

Grandeeny held her breath as her son finally moved, his arm slowly coming up from his side and his hand dipping into the pile in the blonde's hands to steal a chunk of snow from her grasp. He stared at the snow in his own hand for a moment, and Grandeeny eagerly anticipated whatever he was going to next, her video camera still held at the ready. She figured he might just drop it after looking at it for a bit, or maybe he'd lick it or eat it or a number of other things. But on the contrary, her eyes widened when he finally made his move, his little gloved hand fisting around the snow for a moment before he looked back up…and chucked the snow straight into the blonde's face. She flinched as it made impact, her eyes squeezing tightly shut as the little handful exploded against her skin.

"Natsu!" Igneel reprimanded, already taking a few steps towards his son.

Jude started forward too, ready for the outburst that was sure to come from his daughter's mouth at any second.

But Lucy reacted before any of the three adults could intervene, her eyes entirely void of any tears and her little lips set in a determined pout as she shoved her still snow-filled hands into Natsu's face.

Grandeeny, Igneel, and Jude all froze, waiting for chaos to break loose now that the little Drangeel boy had been attacked.

Lucy's hands slowly peeled from his face, some of the snow falling away now that the pressure was gone, but a few clumps remaining plastered against his skin and clinging to his eyelashes. His lips began to quiver, a clear sign of an approaching meltdown.

But instead of the edges of his mouth drooping downward, they rocketed upward, a light laugh slipping through his lips.

Just like always, once one of them was giggling, the other soon followed suit, Natsu's laughter cueing Lucy's own. They both bent down, still laughing as they buried their hands in the snow and shoveled chunks of white at the other, aiming quite horribly with the little coordination their tiny bodies possessed.

A warm smile splayed across Jude's lips, "It seems like he likes the snow after all."

"Nope," Igneel chuckled deep in his chest, a knowing grin on his face as he watched the two children play, "he just likes Lucy."

* * *

 **AN**

 **At first I was like, "Nah, I won't have them shove snow into each other's faces because I want this to be all fluffy and nice," but then I was like, "Eh, babies will be babies and pretty much anything a baby does is cute in my opinion."**

 **Hope you enjoyed, and I hope to see you back tomorrow!**

 **Hint for next chapter: Christmas Market**


	3. Chapter 3

Natsu held fast to Lucy's mitten clad hand, and the little blonde was gripping him back just as tightly as he charged through the crowd of the Christmas market with her in tow, a little skip in his step that caused his white scarf to flutter through the air behind him.

The fact that they'd somehow managed to become separated from their parents didn't seem to bother the three-year-old Dragneel boy in the least, and he bobbed and weaved through the legs of the adults around him with a small smile on his face, carting a much less content two-year-old behind him. Lucy had started sobbing the second she'd pulled her focus away from the toy trains she and Natsu had been chasing around, her eyes filling with tears when she found that her parents were nowhere in sight. The salmon haired boy had taken hold of her hand almost instantly as a knee-jerk reaction, tugging her away to search for their parents the instant he'd realized what was wrong. He had to walk slower than he normally would've because of her short little legs, but he was still happily strolling along, looking back every now and then to make sure she was okay before charging onwards.

The short, speedy pair caught the attention of a nearby security guard, his eyes widening at the lack of an adult following after them. The little blonde's tear-streaked face confirmed his suspicions, and he stepped into the crowd to intercept their path, crouching down before them with a soft grin on his features, "Are you two little ones lost?"

"Yep," Natsu hummed, seemingly unbothered by the fact he'd just admitted to.

"Do you know your parents' names?"

"Mom and dad," the pinkette answered proudly, his bright grin never fading.

The guard chuckled, his own smile still vibrantly splayed across his features, "What about _your_ name, kid?"

"Natsu!"

"And your friend?"

Natsu glanced back at the blonde, having to turn his head quite a bit with how she was cowering behind him, before looking back to the crouching man and smiling brightly, "Luce."

"Alright, Natsu and Luce," the guard stood back to his full height, beckoning the kids forward with a soft tilt of his head. "Let's go to the service center. I'm sure your parents are already looking for you."

"Okay!" the pinkette hummed, tightening his grip on Lucy's hand and tugging her forward once more, "Come on, Luce!"

The little blonde gave him a single nod of her head, one hand still holding onto his and the other tugging at the scarf around her neck.

The guard kept his strides short to stick beside the pair as he led them towards the center, chuckling to himself whenever Natsu excitedly pointed things out to the blonde, obviously in an attempt to cheer her up.

"Look, Luce! Tree!" he exclaimed as they rounded a corner and entered the main plaza where the market boasted their nearly seventy foot Christmas tree, his step adopting an extra happy bounce with his excitement.

The blonde's wide eyes positively sparkled as she gaze up at it in awe, a tiny gasp slipping through her lips.

"Pretty impressive, huh?" the guard chortled, his own focus dragging up the tree, following the spiraled lights all the way to the star at the top.

"Is huge!" Natsu slurred with enthusiasm.

"Sure is," the man hummed, his steps leading the duo towards the service center at the edge of the plaza. If their parents weren't there already, then that was their best bet at finding them.

And sure enough, both the Dragneels and the Heartfilias were already waiting inside, a relieved gasp slipping through Layla's lips as she turned her find her daughter entering the center alongside Natsu and the guard, "Lucy!"

The blonde finally detached her hand from Natsu's, shooting forward with a happy cry of, "Mama! Papa!" She wrapped her arms tightly around her mother's neck as Layla crouched down to sweep the blonde into her arms, a warm smile spreading across her lips as she felt her father's hand settle atop her head.

Grandeeny scooped her son up in a similar manner, squeezing his freezing frame into her chest, "We were so worried!"

"Did you look out for Lucy?" Igneel ventured, his eyes glancing towards the little blonde who was now safely wrapped in her mother's arms. It wasn't like he hadn't been worried about his son, because he sure as hell had been, but Natsu was older and more independent than the two-year-old girl, and he knew better than anyone that his son was completely capable of holding his own in tough situations.

Natsu's lips stretched in a bright grin, "Yep!"

"He held her hand the entire way here," the guard chuckled from his place beside the two families, a relieved smile on his face now that the children had been reunited with their parents.

"That's my little man!" Igneel reached out to ruffle his son's hair as he let out a hearty chortle, "Looking after your lady like a champ!"

Jude turned to face the guard, a warm grin on his features as he extended his hand, "Thank you for finding them. I'm Jude Heartfilia."

"Gildarts Clive," the guard introduced, grasping the other man's hand in a firm shake. "I've got a kid around their age, and I know I wouldn't want her out and about on her own in a place like this. I was just doing what any parent would've done."

"I'm not sure how we lost them," Grandeeny started in exasperation. "We turned our backs for one second, and then next thing we knew, they were gone."

"It happens a lot," Gildarts shrugged. "The Christmas Market's always a crazy place to be, and the younger kids can get kind of carried away."

"We'll keep a better eye on them from now on," Layla pledged, still hugging her daughter tightly to her chest.

"Sure thing," the guard grinned as he turned to head back out the door with a small wave of his hand, "Well, I better get going. Enjoy the rest of your day!"

"You, too!"

"And thank you!"

Natsu gave him an enthusiastic wave, nearly shouting at the top of his lungs, "Thanks, Mr. Policeman!"

Lucy joined in on the farewells too, sounding a bit hesitant as she cried in the loudest voice she could muster, "Mewwy Kismas!"

Gildarts chuckled as he turned back to give the two kids another wave, smiling brightly as he wished, "Merry Christmas! And Happy New Year!"

* * *

 **AN**

 **Eh, this wasn't exactly how I imagined this chapter going, but I'm still content with it :)** **I'm planning on having a few more characters pop in here and there later like Gildarts did in this chapter, too, so we'll get to see a tiny bit of everyone.**

 **I'm German, and if you've ever been to Germany during the holidays, you know that we take our Christmas markets very seriously and they were always a must with my family when I was little! They still are now, but since we live in the states and in a kinda lame and boring state, its hard to find a market that lives up to the hype we're used to...**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you again tomorrow!**

 **Hint for next chapter: Decorating the tree**


	4. Chapter 4

"Natsu! Stop eating the popcorn!"

"But _mom_ , I'm _hungry_!"

"Then eat the fruit snacks I gave you, dear," Grandeeny articulated slowly, taking a deep breath to keep herself from fuming and trying her very best to refrain from lashing out at her four-year-old son when sweet little Lucy was sitting so close by. Besides, fighting would ruin the vibe they'd established as they went about decorating their home, and she wasn't one to let the Christmas Spirit be tarnished.

But Lord help her to keep her cool if her son kept munching on the popcorn she'd made to be threaded and strung around the Christmas tree when a good fifth of her bowl had already been lost to his belly while her back was turned.

"But I don't like that kind! They're gross!"

Lucy just giggled as she watched her salmon haired friend roll around on the floor in childish exasperation, the three-year-old blonde happily kneeling on the ground of the Dragneel's living room right next to Grandeeny and pasting the little paper snowflakes she'd made to red, green, and blue pieces of paper just like the woman had shown her. Her hands were sticky with glue, but she couldn't have been happier, contentedly humming along to the Christmas jingles that Igneel had switched on as she continued with her task.

"Natsu, why don't you help Lucy cut up some more snowflakes?" Grandeeny lightly suggested, "We'll need lots if we want to cover the whole tree."

The pinkette flopped onto his back with a despondent groan, a strand of silver tinsel tangled around the bottom of his left leg from his rolling about, "But why do we have to make new ones? What about the thingies we used last year?"

"They're called ornaments, dear, and since you broke so many of them last Christmas by running into the tree, I thought paper decorations would be a better option," she let out a heavy sigh, shaking her head as she recalled sweeping up mess after mess.

Natsu let out a stubborn humph, folding his arms over his chest and turning his head in the other direction.

"I bet Lucy would really appreciate your help."

He only let out another wordless grumble.

Lucy decided to take matters into her own, glue-covered hands, curling them into fists so her palms didn't stick to the carpet as she crawled over to him. She kneeled right next to his head and waited for a few moments to see if he would look her way, but when he stubbornly refused to, she let out a quick sigh through her nose, her fists clenching in determination atop her knees before she leaned down to place a quick peck on his cheek, her lips barely brushing against his skin. She pulled back with a grin on her face, giggling happily at his tense frame and wide eyes as she asked, "Please, Natsu?"

The pinkette lay with wide eyes and a clenched jaw for another silent moment before he was melting to the floor, his cheeks beginning to tint the same color as his hair as he lowly grumbled, "Fine."

"Yay!" the blonde bounced on her knees in joy before hurriedly snatching the salmon haired boy's wrists and tugging him with her as she scooched back to her pile of glue and paper, excitedly passing him his own glue stick and a piece of red paper since she knew that was his favorite color.

Grandeeny quietly continued to string popcorn, smiling to herself as she watched Lucy explain the process to Natsu, the salmon haired boy dutifully clinging to her every word even though he probably already knew how to glue things together. That girl could get him to do anything, and Grandeeny could that the little blonde knew it, her sly little grin giving her away.

* * *

 **AN**

 **Yeah, its short, but there's plenty more on the way ;)**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Hint for next chapter: Preschool Christmas Program**


	5. Chapter 5

**I posted this chapter earlier today, but I think there was an error because it wasn't showing that the fic was updated on my end, so I hope it works this time...**

* * *

A preschool Christmas program wouldn't be a preschool Christmas program without that one kid that shrieks the lyrics of carols instead of singing them.

Grandeeny buried her face in her hands out of embarrassment while her husband just heartily chuckled, because it seemed like her son was that kid. Natsu's voice was the loudest by far, and it was horridly out of tune. She had to give him props for knowing every single word to every single song, but with each new carol that began, she kind of wished he'd forget at least a few words here and there so that the other children's voices could be heard for at least a few seconds.

The other parents didn't seem to mind much as they simply chuckled at his antics, but the little raven haired boy standing beside her son looked about ready to tackle the pinkette, his hands clenched into little fists at his sides and his navy blue eyes narrowed in an icy glare as he grumbled the lyrics to 'Jingle Bells.'

On Natsu's other side, Lucy was singing like the little angel she'd grown up to be, her hands politely clasped behind her back and a sparkle in her eyes as she sang along to every tune. Her hair had been curled and done up in twin pigtails courtesy of Layla, a snowman sweater that had been knitted with yarn of her favorite color of blue sitting snug on her frame. Not even the flopping of one of the paper antlers on the headband she'd made could stop her from singing her best, nor the shrieking and enthusiastic wiggling of the salmon haired boy next to her as he jammed to the carols.

Grandeeny had always hoped that her son would carry her and Igneel's passion and love for Christmas, but never would she have imagined that it would manifest itself like this. Though really, she supposed she shouldn't have been too surprised. Natsu had always been a wild child, and doing something as rowdy and giddy as screaming Christmas carols was something that undoubtedly fit his personality.

And just like she shouldn't have been surprised at her son's singing, she shouldn't have been surprised at what Lucy did next, but still, her eyes were widening at the chaos that broke out in the blink of an eye before them.

Lucy, who seemed to have finally had enough of her best friend shrieking in her ear, elbowed Natsu in the stomach, sending him stumbling into the raven haired boy at his left, who, Grandeeny would later learn when apologizing to the boy's parents, was named Gray Fullbuster. Gray let out a battle cry and launched an uncoordinated counterattack, finally giving in to his annoyance and tackling the salmon haired boy to the floor of the classroom.

The parents of the two boys were immediately shooting from their seats in time with the scrambling of the teacher, but during the short span of the fight, Lucy had just stood there with her lips pursed, rolling her eyes multiple times as if the match taking place on the ground before her was nothing out of the ordinary, which it wasn't.

Once the boys were finally separated, they were sent to stand on opposite sides of the cluster of preschoolers as the program resumed, neither returning to their singing and instead just glaring through their school mates at each other. Lucy, on the other hand, started singing sweetly once more, an extra glimmer in her eye now that her voice could actually be heard.

* * *

 **AN**

 **To be honest, this is the chapter that stumped me the most out of all 25 chapters...Little kids are just...hard to write and even though I had the concept of the Christmas program decided, writing was strangely difficult...**

 **Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed and thanks for reading!**

 **Hint for next chapter: Presents**


	6. Chapter 6

Natsu's brows furrowed as he glanced up from where he was using a red crayon to fill in the dragon he'd scribbled, his eyes following Lucy as she spun around in the small space between the TV and the coffee table he was kneeling at as he drew, "Luce…What are you doing?"

"Dancing," the five-year-old blonde hummed happily, her hands raised above her head as she twirled in her best attempt at copying the ballerinas on the screen.

He watched her quietly for a few moments, snickering as she tried to leap, her little arms and legs flailing about and obviously lacking the grace of the dancers she was imitating, "You're such a weirdo."

Lucy stomped her foot and clenched her fists at her sides as she whipped around to face him, her lips set in a pout, "I'm not weird!" She glared at him for a few moments before turning back to stare at the TV, her eyes following the dancers as they spun and leapt across the stage and her expression softening into one of dreamy admiration, her voice light as she hummed, "I wanna be just like them someday. They're so pretty!"

Natsu leaned to the side to peek around her frame and get a look at the screen, quirking a single brow as he questioned, "Ya really think so? I think they look kinda silly."

"Of course you do," she huffed out, her pout returning to his lips. "You're such a jerk."

"And you're a weirdo."

The blonde let out a scoff, her eyes still dutifully following the ballerinas on the screen, "I'll show you, Natsu. I'm gonna be a ballerina, and then you'll see how you stupid are."

The salmon haired boy just snickered before going back to his drawing, "Whatever, weirdo."

"Stop calling me that!"

* * *

"Your turn, Luce!" Natsu excitedly insisted, carefully placing the stuffed dragon the blonde had given him on the couch before rushing to grab the present he'd prepared for his best friend. His mom had helped him wrap it and decorate it with ribbon, but he was proud to say that the gift itself had been entirely his idea, and he'd worked hard at his chores to earn the twelve dollars the present had cost.

Lucy's eyes narrowed as he placed the box in her grasp, quirking a brow in suspicion at its weight, or rather its lack thereof, "Is there even anything in this?"

"Of course there is!" Natsu pouted as he plopped himself on the ground across from her once more, looking hurt by the fact that she thought he would do such a thing. "Now are you gonna open it or just hold it the whole day?"

The blonde set the box on the floor before her, carefully taking her time to undo the ribbon and rip off the wrapping paper without making a mess. The longer she took, the more impatient Natsu seemed to get, his fingers tapping on his knees and his eyes following her every move. But his stare didn't make the blonde go any faster, her movements still light and delicate as she lifted the lid of the shoebox he'd placed his present in.

Her eyes widened as they settled upon the pair of canvas ballet slippers nestled in a pile of tissue paper at the bottom of the box.

Her eyes welled with tears. He really had been listening to her earlier, and he'd committed her words to memory, which meant that he really did care.

"Y-you're crying?" Natsu stammered out, his eyes wide with panic, "You…you don't like them?"

"They're perfect!" she happily shrieked, her arms shooting out to wrap around his neck and hug him so tight she was practically strangling him. "Thank you!"

"I…your welcome…" Natsu averted his gaze as she pulled back, his voice a bit higher than usual as he grumbled, "So are you gonna put 'em on, or what, weirdo?"

The blonde happily complied, fighting with the elastic band that stretched across the top for a moment as she slid them onto her feet. She happily wriggled her toes inside the slippers, which were a little big, but even that couldn't stop her from loving them.

She wore them to dance class every week until squeezed her toes with how much she'd grown, not even the holes in the canvas stopping her from using them every second she could.

* * *

 **AN**

 **Lucy's journey as a ballet dance begins! It'll be kind of a background story, but there's a few chapters that will revolve around her ballet life later on.**

 **I hope you enjoyed, and see you tomorrow!**

 **Hint for next chapter: A Christmas Story**


	7. Chapter 7

"'And what happened _then…_?'"

Natsu leaned towards Lucy with his eyes widened in anticipation, the six-year-old blonde showing off her reading skills by narrating her favorite Christmas book for her salmon haired best friend.

He bounced excitedly on his knees, "What happened next, Luce?"

"'Well…'" she gave him a smug grin before revealing the story's big twist, her voice rising in volume as she read the climax of the story, "'In Who-ville they say that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day!'"

"No way!" the salmon haired boy exclaimed, his eyes wide.

"'And the minute his heart didn't feel quite so tight, he-'" the blonde cut herself off, her brows furrowed as she stared long and hard at the still unfamiliar word before slowly sounding it out, "' _w-whizzed_ with his load through the bright morning light. And he brought back the toys! And the food for the feast! And he…'"

Natsu leaned closer.

"'He himself…'"

The salmon haired boy was practically in best friend's face by now.

"'The Grinch carved the roast beast!'"

"What?!" he threw his upper body backwards in exasperation, only narrowly avoiding slamming himself down on top of where his new baby sister, Wendy, lay on a blanket that their mother had laid out across the living room floor for the children while they played. The blue haired girl, even though she was only a few months old, was already more than used to her brother's behavior by now, and she didn't even flinch as his head missed her body by only a few inches.

Natsu crossed his arms over his chest as he shot back up into a sitting position, his lips set in a pout, "But the Grinch could've had all those presents and all that food to himself! Why'd he have to go and give it all back and be all sappy?"

Lucy whapped him on the head with her book, "You missed the point, dummy!" After the salmon haired had been successfully whapped, she hugged her weapon to his chest, ignoring her best friend's whimpers as she devotedly professed, "It's about how special Christmas is. It's not about food or presents or even decorations…it's about family and friends and feelings!"

The salmon haired boy pouted once more, still clutching at the tender spot on his head, "But food's yummy."

The little blonde rolled her eyes, huffing as she haughtily turned away from him, "If you don't like it, then I won't ever read it to you again."

"Wait!" Natsu scrambled to make amends, crawling the short distance between them so that he was practically in her face once more as he somewhat reluctantly admitted, "But I…I like it when you read me stories."

The blonde cast him the tiniest and briefest of looks out of the corner of her eye, "Really?"

The salmon haired boy sat back on his heels, letting out a small laugh, "Yeah. You make 'em exciting…and you do funny voices."

She held firm for a moment more before she let out a heavy sigh, her arms falling from her chest and her hands setting the book in her lap, "I…I guess I can read you more stories then...Since you like it so much."

He gave her a bright grin, "Yay! Thanks, Luce! You're the best!"

She looked away with a small blush, her hands pulling the book closer to her chest as she grumbled, "I…I know that, dummy. You don't have to say it."

* * *

 **AN**

 **Christmas stories are always a must for my family, so of course I couldn't write a Christmas fic without one of them!**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Hint for next chapter: Lucy's first time in the Nutcracker...and Natsu's not very impressed**


	8. Chapter 8

Natsu let out his tenth exasperated sigh of the last seven minutes, the eight-year-old dramatically flopping onto the floor in front of his mother and baby sister, who was just beginning to figure out how to walk.

Grandeeny cooed as Wendy finally reached her goal and waddled into her outstretched arms, hugging her giggling daughter close to her chest as she finally gave her son the attention he'd been seeking to gain, "What's the matter, dear?"

"Nothin,'" he grumbled, a pout on his features and his fingers flicking a fallen string of tinsel around the carpet.

The blue haired woman quirked a brow as she looked at him while he moped. If he was already this dramatic, she didn't know she was going to be able to handle him when he reached his teens.

Her lips quirked in a tiny, knowing smile, "It's about Lucy, isn't it?"

His gaze shot to her, his brows furrowing dejectedly, "How'd you know?"

"You're not very subtle."

The pinkette let out another heavy sigh, his gaze dropping back to the floor, "It's just…why does she gotta be at practice all the time? She's never home, so we never get to play together anymore. The only time I ever see her is at school."

Grandeeny gave him a soft smile as she set Wendy back on her feet, sending her toddling towards the couch, "She's always wanted to be in the Nutcracker, and this year she finally gets to be. So you should be happy for her. You'll just have to be patient and wait until December's over. Then, she'll be free all the time just like she was before."

"But…December's forever long," he grumbled. "And ballet's stupid."

"Don't forget, you were the one that gave her her first pair of ballet slippers," Grandeeny smugly teased. "If anyone's to blame for this, it's you."

The salmon haired boy let out an exasperated groan as he flopped onto his back, "Don't remind me!"

* * *

Natsu fought to restrain his emotions when Lucy first shoved the picture of her in her costume into his face, but it was a losing battle, the laughter bursting from his mouth as he incredulously asked, "What's on your cheeks?!"

"It's called makeup, Natsu," the blonde grumbled as she lowered the picture, obviously not happy with his reaction. "I'm supposed to be a toy soldier, so I have to look the part! I even get to stand next to the canon when they set it off!" She actually hated that part, since the boom made her stomach churn, but if it would make Natsu think she was cool, she didn't care if she had to lie.

"But you look like a clown!" he hooted, clutching his abdomen as his body was wracked with laughter. "And what happened to your hair?!"

"It's in a bun and underneath the helmet!" she hissed, trying to defend herself.

"And that coat is waaaaaaaay too big for you! It's practically swallowing you whole!"

"It's supposed to be like that, dummy!" She stomped her foot and clenched her hands into fists, "Just you wait! When you come see me next week, you'll wish you could take it all back, I swear!"

Natsu just chuckled, "I'd like to see you try, weirdo!"

* * *

"Soooooo…what'd you think?" Lucy bounced excitedly on the balls of her feet as she strolled alongside her salmon haired friend, their feet pattering in the slush that covered the sidewalks of downtown Magnolia. Their parents were only a few steps behind, engaging in polite conversation as they made their way to get some hot chocolate after Lucy's final performance of the year.

Natsu nonchalantly shrugged, halfheartedly mumbling, "The main chick was lots better and way cuter than you."

She stared at him with wide eyes for a moment as if she thought she'd heard him wrong before she whapped him on the shoulder, "You're such a jerk! She's five years older than me, so what did you expect, you idiot?! Of course she's better! And you came to see _me,_ not her!"

"You were in it for, like, ten minutes!" Natsu spat back, seemingly unable to understand why she was so upset. "And I couldn't even tell which one you were!"

She let out a tiny growl in warning and he took off running, not willing to face Lucy's wrath when she was as mad as she was.

"You just wait and see, Natsu! I'll become the best ballerina ever! And you'll regret every being mean to me!"

He spun to face her and stuck out his tongue, "I'd like to see you try, weirdo!"

"I'll do more than try!" she screamed back. "I'll be the best there is!"

He just giggled at her as she fumed, a smug grin spreading across his features as he hummed to himself, "I hope you'll be, so go ahead…prove me wrong, Luce."

* * *

 **AN**

 **When we were kids, my brother's way of motivating me was making me mad, so Natsu's part in this chapter was kind of based off of that :)**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Hint for next chapter: Writing letters to Santa (next chapter is super short, but I didn't feel like I needed to make it drag on for forever just to get more length)**


	9. Chapter 9

Lucy hummed happily as she finished writing her letter with a red glitter pen, laying on her stomach at the border of the living room and kitchen of her home so that her body rested on carpet, but her letter lay flat on the tile. She fiddled her legs behind her, lightly swinging them from side to side as she propped up her elbow and set her chin in the palm of her hand, her gaze sliding over to the salmon haired boy lying beside her as she happily hummed, "What did you ask for?"

The nine-year-old was determinedly focused on his task, the tip of his tongue peeking between his lips and his brows furrowed. He didn't stop writing as he gave her his answer, snickering as he did so, "For Gray to get kidnapped and taken to another planet."

The blonde rolled her eyes, though she wasn't really surprised at his wish, "Santa can't do that, dummy."

"But my mom told me to write down what I wanted for Christmas!" Natsu haughtily insisted. "If Gray disappeared, that would be the best gift ever!"

"You don't really meant that," she muttered in exasperation.

"Yes I do!"

"You might fight a lot, but it's obvious you guys consider each other friends," Lucy stated matter-of-factly, going back to her letter and using a silver glitter marker to decorate it with snowflakes.

"That stupid popsicle could never be my friend," Natsu grumbled, folding his arm and burying the bottom half of his face in them, his eyes set in a glare as he grumpily stared off at nothing.

There were a few moments of silence before he mumbled through his arms, "What'd you ask for?"

The blonde smiled happily to herself, "Some dresses, sweaters, and hats…and that cute snowman plushy I saw at the store with mama the other day." She clicked the lid of her marker back into place over the tip, grinning proudly at her glitter-smothered letter.

"You're such a girl," Natsu scoffed.

She didn't even flinch at his jab, immediately responding, "Always have been, and always will be. So you better get used to it."

* * *

 **AN**

 **Sorry that was short...but since we're kind of starting to enter their older years, the chapters will definitely be getting longer! Every one should be at least over a thousand words, and some of them will reach over two thousand!**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Hint for next chapter: Sledding**


	10. Chapter 10

"Last one down has to chuck a snowball at Erza!"

"You're on, ashface!"

Lucy rolled her eyes and placed her chin atop her tucked knees as Natsu and Gray both took a running start before vaulting onto their sleds and zooming down the steep hill before her, the blonde knowing full well that one of them was probably going to go home with a black eye today because of their bet. Over the years, taunting the redhead had become a sort of game for the pair, in which they'd each dare the other to do more and more risky things to invoke Erza's wrath. Of course, they'd never wish such a thing upon themselves of their own volition, but something about the possibility of the other getting beat up kept them at their game, even if they were putting themselves at risk by doing so.

The blonde turned her head a little to the left, letting out a heavy sigh as she found the subject of Natsu and Gray's dare.

The eleven-year-old redhead was busy with her own competition, racing Mira down the hill time and time again, telling Lucy who'd won that round upon returning to the top of hill so the blonde could keep a tally going. She didn't understand why Erza always got so mad at Natsu and Gray for fighting when her rivalry with Mira wasn't any less violent, and oftentimes, it escalated to far more perilous degrees than that of the petty arguments between the boys. Erza and Mira were both far more resourceful, and that meant their brawls were sometimes near catastrophic.

Lucy knew that they, both Mira and Erza and Natsu and Gray, would never actually seriously injure one another, but being their friend and witnessing their brawls and spats on the daily definitely had her worried sometimes. Natsu was her _best_ friend, and Gray, Erza, and Mira were three of her closest friends, and if any of them were stupid and reckless enough to hurt each other, which they came pretty close sometimes, she didn't know what she would do.

That was part of the reason she'd chosen not to take a turn at sledding down the hill herself, only plopping down on her sled a decent distance away from the crest of the hill as soon as they'd arrived and watching the two pairs as they raced, making sure there were no crashes or any other mishaps.

Of course that wasn't the only reason she didn't give herself that little push that would send her sliding down the hill, but she didn't need anyone else to know the other reason, especially not Natsu.

Which seemed inevitable now that the salmon haired boy was nearing the end of his hike back up the hill, his feet carrying him straight towards her.

He let out a heavy breath as he finally reached the top and came to a stop just beside her, obviously feeling the after effects of his climb. But there was still a bright grin on his face, even as he tiredly huffed out, "What's up, Luce? You haven't gone down once since we got here."

In an attempt at hiding the truth from him, the blonde didn't even glance his way as she gestured to the little snowballs she'd been making and piling to count wins, her arms still wrapped tightly around her knees as she pulled them further into her chest in an attempt to retain heat, "I'm keeping track of wins for Erza and Mira."

He looked between her and the two piles for a moment before flatly huffing out, "Well that's lame. We came to sled, so you should be sledding."

"It's fine," she mumbled, her gaze finally sliding to Natsu before finding Gray a short distance behind her salmon haired friend, the raven haired boy crouching down to craft a snowball with very obviously trembling hands. It seemed like he'd lost his and Natsu's race, and that meant he had to chuck the ball at Erza, and take her rage upon himself. Lucy immediately resolved to tell him that he didn't have to do it after she was done talking to Natsu, because she knew she could handle whatever protests the salmon haired boy put up.

"No, it's not fine," Natsu grumbled, putting his hands on his hips. "You don't look like you're having much fun, and that's not cool."

"But you guys are all having fun, so I'm okay," she shrugged, placing her chin atop her knees once more, "I'm just making sure you guys don't get hurt."

"Come on, Luce. I know you well enough to know that that can't be the _only_ reason you don't wanna go down. If that _were_ the only reason, you'd be right there with us, 'cause you'd wanna be close enough to yell at us if we did anything stupid." He furrowed his brows as he crouched down at her side and fixed her with a pointed stare, "So what else is keepin' ya from going down?"

The blonde hugged her legs tighter, her brows furrowing as she reluctantly let out a quiet mumble.

He leaned closer to hear her better, nearly toppling over into her, but saving himself at the last second, "What was that?"

"I…I don't like going fast," she muttered, ashamed of herself.

Natsu pulled back a fraction, obviously not having expected such an answer, "Oh…really?"

She nodded her head and bit her bottom lip, "It's just...the hill's really steep…and the sled's kinda hard to control."

"I see…"

Lucy dropped her gaze as his voice faded out, not wanting to look at him, figuring he must be starting to think that she was a super lame best friend. Natsu was always running off to face new and exciting things with a grin on his face, and sometimes, she was right there beside him. But now wasn't one of those times. Of course she'd been sledding before, but in all honestly, she hadn't really liked it, and she'd never gone down a hill this steep. Like she'd said, not having control scared her sometimes, and the very prominent possibility of injury was no small concern either.

The snow suddenly crunched around her, and before she knew it, her sled was shifting beneath her. Natsu had crouched down behind her to take hold of the back edge of her sled before taking off at a sprint, and now, he was pushing her forward, charging straight towards the hill.

Her fingers shot to curl around the edge of the sled on instinct as she shrieked, "What are you doing?!"

He let out a boisterous laugh, "The only way to get over your fears is to face 'em!"

"Natsu!"

Not knowing what else to say in her panic, she screeched his name, her eyes squeezing shut as they came upon the drop off. She thought that he might just shove her down on her own, but instead, as the sled began to tip over the crest of the hill, he hopped on behind her, forcefully jamming himself onto the way-too-tiny-for-two-people sled. His knees were digging painfully into her back, so hard that she was surprised his entrance hadn't booted her off the small disc of plastic. But her discomfort was of no concern at the moment, the blonde still clinging onto the edges of the sled like her life depended on it.

"You're such jerk!"

"Forget about how scared you are and enjoy the thrill!" Natsu shouted over the rush of the wind as they descended, his head peeking over her shoulder and a laugh in his voice. "I ain't gonna let ya fall off or anything, so open your eyes and take it all in!"

After taking a deep breath, the blonde gave in, forcing her body to relax the tiniest little bit and peeling her eyes open. At first, the combination of the frigid air and the rush of the wind made her eyes burn with tears, but as she quickly adjusted to the feeling, her fingers naturally loosened up a fraction, and her rigid, fearful features were melting into a look of awe, her lips curling up a tiny bit at the corners.

Of course she still felt fear, but it was that slight rush of fire through her veins, that barely there tingling feeling in her stomach, that set her off and made her crave more. Natsu was with her, quite literally smashed against her back, and that meant that she could thrive off that thrill instead of being afraid of it, his trills of joy in her ear giving her all the comfort and reassurance she needed.

The salmon haired boy was still laughing as their sled slid to a halt, throwing his feet off either side of the sled to bring them to a complete stop, "Now, that wasn't too bad was it?"

"No…" she reluctantly admitted, holding completely still for a moment before whipping around to punch him in the shoulder, "but I'm gonna make you pay for that, you jerk!"

* * *

 **AN**

 **Yeah, I don't really know what this chapter was…somehow sledding turned into this weirdly profound thing, but I decided to just roll with it.**

 **And, true story, I was** _ **terrified**_ **of sledding as a kid. Or really, I was terrified of anything that posed even the slightest risk of injury.**

 **Anyways, thanks for reading!**

 **Hint for next chapter: Gingerbread houses**


	11. Chapter 11

"I swear, Natsu, if you try to knock down my gingerbread house one more time, I'll tell Gray about that time you got your tongue stuck to that pole!"

The eleven-year-old boy let out a dramatic gasp, his hand immediately retreating from where it'd been outstretched to poke at Lucy's house. He fixed her with a half-glare, worry and dread pooling in his irises as he mumbled, "You wouldn't."

"Of course I would!" the blonde insisted, her hands already working to fix the gumdrop Natsu had knocked off of the corner of her gingerbread roof, "You're being a jerk, so I'll be a jerk back!"

"You're no fun," he grumbled, turning back to his own, barely standing gingerbread house with a childish pout on his features, his hand angrily dunking into the bowl of M & M's and pulling back so he could shove a handful into his mouth.

Lucy let out a heavy sigh and rolled her eyes, a bit of bite still in her tone as she muttered, "You're not going to have anything left to decorate your house with if you keep eating all the candy." Her lips curled a bit in distaste at the poor state of his gingerbread house, the four walls nearly collapsing in on themselves, "And you're making a mess."

"Shut up and pass me the frosting," Natsu indignantly growled, sharply snatching the piping bag from her hand when she hesitantly held it out to him. He set to work on sloppily trying to salvage his gingerbread home, his attempts only making his house more of a mess.

The difference between the pair's amount of control and the artistry they each possessed was blatantly showcased in their two homes, though Natsu might insist that the state of chaos his house was in was a form of artistry, too. Lucy's was perfectly structured and standing sturdily upright, not an ounce of asymmetry anywhere on her piece. The lines of icing that swooped across the rooftop like shingles were meticulously even, and the gumdrops she was sticking to the rim of the roof had a set pattern, the sugar coated candies arranged so that they sat green first, white second, red last, and then the arrangement repeated.

Natsu's, on the other hand, was sliding closer to collapse with every second that passed, the still not solidified frosting on his walls smearing as they tipped. He'd rushed the process of letting everything dry before moving on to decorating, which hadn't surprised Lucy really, because he was always too excited to get on to the next thing to really pay attention to what was happening in the moment. The added weight of the candy decorations he'd plastered on expedited the home's collapse, and as one side of the roof slid off entirely, he scrambled to catch it before it could tumble to the floor, his hands becoming sticky and crumb-covered.

Lucy let out a tiny snicker as she looked up at her salmon haired friend once she'd finished gluing the gumdrop Christmas lights on her home, her lips quirking up at the edges as she caught sight of the mess Natsu had made of himself during his desperate attempts to save his home, "Looks like there's more frosting on you than on the gingerbread."

Natsu clapped back almost immediately, setting the right side of his roof down before his hand shot to one of the gingerbread men he'd worked on a few minutes ago. A smug grin bubbled onto his features as he chuckled, "Look, Luce. I drew your face on this gingerbread man."

Her lips tightened into an irritated purse when he held it up for her to see, a very prominent frown and two eyebrows tilted downwards drawn in frosting on the gingerbread man's face. Her name was even sloppily scrawled across its chest, and that final detail set the blonde off.

"Fine," she hissed, a method of cruel payback already forming in her mind. She gave him a wicked smirk, reaching for one of her own gingerbread men, "If that's how you want to be, then this one's you." She held his gaze with fire in her eyes, not an ounce of mercy in her expression as she roughly chomped off the head of the gingerbread man in her grasp. She made a show of harshly chewing it, internally cringing at her own poor manners, but simultaneously deciding it was worth it to see the look on his face.

He gasped dramatically, horror written across his features as if she'd really just wounded him. As if to add to his chagrin, his house collapsed entirely only a few seconds later, the slabs of gingerbread finally giving into the pull of gravity against the few sloppy strings of frost that'd held them together.

His horrified gaze shifted to one of despair as he looked over the fallen walls of his home, his hands lifting but freezing in the air for a moment as if he didn't know where to begin.

Lucy happily went back to decorating her home as he futilely worked to salvage the mess of gingerbread before him, his brows permanently furrowed for the time being as he as plucked pieces from the mess as if looking through the wreckage of his real home. The blonde tuned out his disappointed and saddened sighs as he tried to get the walls to stand once more, the girl happily humming a Christmas carol as she went about pasting more decorations to her home. After all, he'd been trying to knock her house down earlier, so it was only fair that his own home face such an end.

"Luce…"

She looked up at the soft call of her name, finding Natsu miserably staring at the toppled walls of his gingerbread house with the utmost look of defeat on his features. He gave her a pitiful pout as he mumbled, "...I need your help."

The blonde stared at him blankly for a few moments, her mind slow to process his request. Natsu was normally a do-it-all-on-his-own kind of a guy, even if he failed horribly and miserably in the end. For him to be asking _her_ for help, especially after the little spat they'd just had, meant that he was seriously upset, which surprised her given his normal lack of care for anything as time-consuming as making gingerbread houses. He had been excited beyond belief when the blonde had told him that her mother was baking gingerbread for them to make houses with though, so she supposed that his despair over the current state of his home was understandable.

"Just…just with getting the walls up again though," the salmon haired boy mumbled, obviously embarrassed at the fact that he'd asked for her aid. "You can go back to decorating your house after that."

Lucy clenched her fists in determination, shooting from her chair and waltzing around the table to stand directly in front of him and his home. Since he'd asked for help, a rather rare occurrence, she was going to milk every minute of it that she could. "It's easier with two people anyways. I'll frost if you hold the walls?" she proposed, her features finally melting into a soft grin.

His look of defeat faded as she gave him a smile, his own signature, bright grin making an appearance as he cheered, "Sounds good!"

They followed through with their plan, eventually managing to seal the walls together after all of their hard work. The blonde made the salmon haired boy sit patiently while the frosting dried completely, distracting him with some more M & M's from the bowl in the center of the table.

At the end of the night, Natsu took his house home while Lucy's gingerbread house was proudly set on display in the center of the Heartfilia family's dining table, two gingerbread men, one with 'Lucy' delicately painted across its chest, the other with a white mess of frosting that could just be made out as 'Natsu,' leaning against the front of the perfectly decorated home, both gingerbread men with lopsided grins piped across their faces.

* * *

 **AN**

 **Too cheesy? Or just the perfect amount of cheesy fluffiness?**

 **Thanks for reading, and a special thank you to those who took the time to review! I'm usually not much of a fluff writer, so hearing your positive feedback makes me melt a bit inside!**

 **Hint for next chapter: The best kind of snowball fights are the ones that are against the rules**


	12. Chapter 12

"Do NOT throw that snowball or else!"

Lucy shrieked as, not even a second later, a snowball smashed against her cheek, the frigid flakes scattering through the air following the impact and leaving a cold wetness in their wake. Her cheek burned with the cold, but her anger burned brighter, "Natsu, you're such a jerk!"

The twelve-year-old, salmon haired boy only chuckled boisterously as he ran a safe distance away on the school field in case she decided to strike back, which he was positive that she would, "Oh, come on! You could've dodged that! You practically _let_ me hit you!"

The blonde let out something akin to a growl, which was very un-Lucy-like and very Natsu-like, but with how annoyed she was, she deemed it appropriate. She shot down into a crouch, her hands diving into the snow and hurriedly crafting a projectile. Throwing snowballs on school grounds during recess was against the rules, but for once, she was completely gung-ho for breaking school regulations, if only for the sake of retaliation.

Her mother always told her, swooning as she did so, that Natsu had been the sweetest, most protective little boy whenever he was around her when she was a baby. But the blonde had a hard time believing in those stories, because the Natsu she knew now was an absolute brat, and there was no way she could ever see him as anything else. He teased her _all the time,_ tugging on her hair as he sat behind her in class and purposefully kicking the back of her seat. He called her names, too, and the worst part of it all was that he acted like it was nothing, like she should still be nothing but happy in his presence. It was like he had no idea how much he annoyed her, which was likely true given how dense he tended to be when it came to emotions other than joy and excitement.

That was why she had to get back at him for what he'd done. He was painfully oblivious, and she wasn't just going to sit by and let him keep taking joy in her irritation.

She'd tolerated him up until recently just like she would've tolerated an annoying brother, but now that she was old enough to realize that since he wasn't actually her brother, she didn't _have_ to endure his presence, so she'd tried just ignoring him in an attempt to get him to just go away. But her disregard for him only seemed to further egg him on, and it was during those attempts to shake him off that she realized she was stuck with him, both because of Natsu himself, with his thick-headedness, and their parents, who were basically best friends by now. Twelve years of being next door neighbors had made the Heartfilias and Dragneels practically inseparable. Igneel and Grandeeny had attended nearly every performance of Lucy's that they could, and when they needed a sitter for Natsu and Wendy, Jude and Layla were always there to fulfill that role. They were as amiable as a pair of next door neighbors could be, and while Lucy loved Igneel, Grandeeny, and Wendy like they were her own family, Natsu was beginning to make himself into a different story.

She knew that no matter how much he annoyed her, she could never ever consider someone else her best friend, but that didn't change the fact that he was a little brat, one that deserved to get hit in the face with a snowball a thousand times over.

So Lucy made that her goal, launching her perfectly crafted ball through the air with as much strength and force as she could muster, determinedly breaking school rules, even though it didn't fit her personality.

Natsu easily side-stepped out of the line of fire to avoid her snowball, a boisterous laugh shooting from his lips as he jabbed, "Your aim _sucks_!"

" _You_ suck!" the blonde spat back, taking off after him in a full on sprint. She knew that the chances of actually hitting him from such a long distance away were slim, and that her aim truly _did_ suck, just like he'd said. So she figured she could use her own means of payback, determined to close the distance between them so she could play dirty and make him feel the same stinging cold that her cheek did.

She was only able to catch up to him because he slipped and face-planted, the blonde barreling after him and throwing herself to the ground on top of him as he tried to stand back up, pinning him down as she shoveled a handful of snow into her palm before forcefully shoving it into his face.

"Aha!" she hollered victoriously, "How do you like _that_?!"

She thought that he'd respond like he normally did when provoked, and she knew his usual violent reaction perfectly due to the commonality of his and Gray's brawls.

But instead, all she heard was his laughter.

"You know what this reminds me of?" he hummed with a chuckle in his voice, "The first time we played in the snow together. Has my mom ever showed you that video?"

"Of course I've seen it," the blonde huffed out a giggle, slowly dropping her tough, irritated attitude at the sound of his laughter. "Your mom gave mine a copy and she watches it _all the time._ "

He gave her a lopsided grin, white flakes still clinging to his eyelashes, "We haven't really changed, have we?"

"Nope," she giggled as a patch of snow dislodged itself from his cheek, "not at all."

Their laughter was interrupted by sound of a whistle, and Lucy paled when she turned find a ground duty approaching their battleground.

* * *

Lucy curled into herself as she sat in a wooden chair beside her best friend, the pair both soaked from their skirmish in the snow earlier.

She'd never been sent to the principal's office before, so she was _terrified._ Would they send her home? Would they call her parents? She _really_ didn't want them to know that she'd broken the rules, especially not since she had a reputation of being a perfect little student.

Natsu, on the other hand, seemed pretty relaxed, his gaze contently skating across every surface in the office and his legs lazily swinging back and forth. Lucy knew it definitely wasn't his first time sitting in these chairs, though he was usually accompanied by Gray instead of her.

She was glad that out of all the people she could possibly be here with that it was _him_ by her side. Natsu somehow always found a way to get out of tough situations, and given his familiarity with visits to the principal's office, she hoped they'd be out of here in no time. She resolved to do her own part too, being nothing but honest so that she didn't have anything to feel guilty about.

Despite her resolve, the blonde still shrunk into herself when their principal finally entered the room, Mr. Conbolt taking a seat before them with a tiny little smile as if to make them less nervous, but still holding his voice firm as he asked, "I heard that you two had a little snowball fight on the field?"

"I was the one that started it," Natsu firmly responded right away, "so Lucy shouldn't be getting in trouble."

The blonde's eyes widened, having not expected the pinkette to so willingly throw himself under the bus for her sake.

"Is that true, Lucy?"

She looked back to the principal, her voice small but still somehow determined sounding as she nervously clasped her hands in front of herself, "Yeah, but…I threw a snowball, too, so I broke the rules just like he did. We…we both deserve to get in trouble."

She glanced over at Natsu, finding that he looked just as she surprised at her words as she had felt at his only moments ago. He'd probably wanted and expected her to take the out he'd provided and save her own skin, but that wasn't the type of girl she was. She wasn't going to let him get in trouble on his own when she was just as much at fault because she was a good best friend, and best friends didn't leave each other behind to face scary principals all alone.

Mr. Conbolt looked between the two with his lips pursed for a moment before he gently asked, "Promise not to do it again?"

"Promise," the two huffed out in unison.

His lips shifted into a gentle grin, "Then you two can head back to class."

"Really?" Natsu blurted.

"That soon?" the blonde's eyes widened.

"Yep," the principal maintained his pleasant grin as he leaned back in his spiny chair, "You're both good kids. As long as you've sworn not do it again, you're good to go."

"Alright!" Natsu excitedly jumped to his feet, thrilled to have made it out of the principal's office without having his parents called like they normally were. "Let's go, Lucy!"

"Thank you, Mr. Conbolt!" the blonde only barely managed to get the words out as her best friend tugged her to her feet and out the door, throwing a wave over her shoulder at the man still seated in his desk.

Natsu kept his tight grip on her wrist all the way back to their classroom, blabbering a bunch of nonsense that she could barely remember as he trudged along with her in tow.

She only smiled softly back at him, humming every once in a while to things he'd said to show that she was listening.

Of course Natsu was a little brat, and he always had been if that video of their first time in snow together was anything to go by. But he was _her_ little brat, and she wouldn't trade him for the world.

* * *

 **AN**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **We'll finally start to enter their teenage years in the next chapter, and from here on out is where things start to get really shippy and we'll have Nalu moments galore!**

 **Hint for next chapter: Lucy starts pointe and has to deal with the painful transition, but having a best friend like Natsu makes things better**


	13. Chapter 13

Lucy bit back a wince as her shoe rubbed against that one tender spot on the outside of her foot, near the knuckle of her pinky, only the tiniest of hisses slipping her lips as she took step after step. After the way last night's Nutcracker rehearsals had gone, she really should've worn different shoes today instead of a pair that hugged her feet so tightly, but the beige boots with the lace running up and down the sides were just too _cute,_ and they matched her outfit perfectly _._ But really, if she had worn a different pair of shoes, would her feet have hurt any less? She didn't think so, but when she was suffering as much as she was, she couldn't think of anything else to blame other than her poor choice of footwear…and the fact that she had to walk home with Natsu, of course, the salmon haired boy's hurried and excited pace providing her with quite the chore of keeping up.

The blonde didn't want to bother or slow him down though, so she kept quiet, swallowing down both her complaints and any sounds of weakness or pain that threatened to slip out. Now that she was twelve and transitioning from dancing on flat to working in pointe shoes, every day of rehearsal had become incredibly difficult, but she figured that the only way she was going to get over the pain was to do endure it and get stronger. Besides, Natsu was always all gung-ho about improving and pushing through the hard times, and since he'd given her her first pair of ballet slippers, she wasn't going to give up the dream he'd helped her create just because of a few blisters and sores, even if those blisters and sores stung unlike any injury she'd ever had before.

She let out another wince as her sock pulled at the dry skin of one of her calluses, clenching her jaw to fight the pain.

"Alright, that's it!"

Lucy jolted in surprise as the salmon haired boy next to her suddenly broke his silence, Natsu's exclamation snapping her out of her thoughts just in time to see him kneel on the sidewalk before her with his back to her and his schoolbag put on backwards so that it was strapped to his chest instead of his back, the knees of his jeans quickly soaking through with the slush that covered the newly-shoveled ground, "Get on."

She stared at his back with wide, confused eyes and furrowed brows, "…What?"

"That's the seventh time you've winced since we left the school," he informed her evenly over his shoulder. "And, like…the zillionth time you have today."

The blonde's gaze dropped to the ground in embarrassment and shame, instinctively curling into herself as she timidly stammered, "You…you noticed?"

"Kinda hard not to when you get that pathetic look on your face every time you do."

She normally would've whapped him for saying such a thing, but really, her feet _hurt_ , and letting him carry her sounded like a really good idea.

"You better not drop me, pinky," she grumbled as she stepped forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face into his scarf.

"Of course not, _princess_ ," his hissed as he slipped his hands beneath the crooks of her knees and stood, obviously bitter about the nickname she'd used. Once he was standing, he hoisted her further up onto his back and started towards their homes, turning onto Strawberry Street with a heavy sigh, "Ya know, if you're hurt, you shouldn't just be quiet about it."

"But I can handle it on my own," she mumbled into his scarf, "I don't want other people to worry about me when it's something so small."

"You not being able to walk more than three steps without wincing isn't something small, Luce."

She didn't respond, only wrapping her arms more tightly around his neck. She knew he was right, and that she shouldn't feel like she had to keep quiet about things just because she thought she would be a bother if she told others. Her pain just seemed so trivial to some of the things other people went through though, and she'd brought all of it upon herself, so did she really have the right to complain about it?

She furrowed her brows when he turned too soon, starting down the path to his front door instead of hers, "We're going to your house?"

"Yep," he hummed. "I'm gonna look at your feet and bandage 'em up."

"But I have to get ready for rehearsal!"

"I'll be fast!" he haughtily promised. "Do you know how many times I've had to bandage myself up after fights with Gray? I'm practically a doctor with how expert I am."

"Fine…" she grumbled, burying her face back into his scarf, "but you better do a good job or I'm gonna whap you."

* * *

"Holy shit…"

"Don't swear!"

"But your feet look like shit!"

"I said don't swear!" Lucy whapped Natsu across the head when she saw the look of disgust on his features, not hard enough to actually hurt him, but forceful enough to get her point across, "I know that they look gross, but _you're_ the one that wanted to see them. You can't blame me if you feel like throwing up because you brought this on yourself!" She huffed out an indignant breath and turned her head to the side when his expression didn't flinch from its look of disgust, folding her arms over her chest and pouting as he took her other foot in his hands to look it over.

He'd forced her to sit on the counter of his bathroom before kneeling on the floor in front of her with a pack of Band-Aids and a half-used roll of gauze, a whole slew of ointments and disinfectants in a little container on the rug beside him. Part of her doubted that he knew what all of those creams were for, but if his earlier words were valid, which she knew the part about the fighting was, then he supposedly was an expert on this kind of thing.

She half expected him to make some stupid comment about how her feet smelled like he normally would, but he didn't, his lips pressed into a thin line as he went about cleaning her abrasions with his arsenal of wrappings and disinfectants. The process of bandaging up her feet was painful, but to her surprise, he was unusually gentle, his touches light and feathery across her skin. She'd never known him to be capable of such softness, and even though she'd known him her entire life, he was still always full of surprises.

She didn't know what she'd done to deserve a best friend like him, one that was everything she needed him to be whenever she needed him to be it, regardless of the situation. Upon first meeting him, a lot of people thought he was dense and simple-minded, but there was a whole lot more to her salmon haired friend than just the boy who loved fighting and food. He was stupidly loyal to a fault, and he knew his friends better than anyone, especially her. Although she'd once refused to admit it, he knew her best, probably even better than her parents.

The pair suddenly heard a gasp from the hallway, both of their focuses turning to find Grandeeny paused just beyond the doorframe as if she'd caught sight of them while walking by, her hand pressed to her chest in a swoon as she dreamily and excitedly called for her husband, "Dear, Natsu's practicing his proposal!"

Lucy's cheeks burned with embarrassment and her fingers curled around the edge of the counter, but Natsu's cheeks flared more vibrantly as he indignantly hissed, " _Mom_!"

* * *

 **AN**

 **Yeah, nothing** _ **too**_ **Christmasy, but we got some Nalu, and that's all that really matters, right? ;) This chapter was one of the few that was part of the original plot line for this thing, before I turned it into a Christmas fic, and I loved it too much to cut it out. I thought this event was a good point to throw in some actual development for once instead of just having the fluff, and writing about Lucy's current thoughts and feelings towards Natsu was fun!**

 **And yes, pointe shoes freakin** _ **hurt,**_ **especially when you're first staring out. And tbh, it never really gets less painful, even though you get stronger and figure out the shoe works to support your weight, you just learn how to deal with the pain…but dancing on pointe is fun regardless**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Hint for next chapter: First snow...again, but its different this time I swear**


	14. Chapter 14

Lucy pressed her hands over her mouth as she squealed, concealing her burning desire to jump up and down in joy as she peeked through the blinds of her window.

It was well past eleven o'clock on the twenty-fourth of December, and just when she'd thought they were about to have a snowless Christmas, or a snowless winter in general, she'd awoken to feel an extra chill emitting from her window, and the piles and piles of white that greeted her upon peering through her blinds had her heart filling with the warmest feeling to contrast the cold.

She _had_ to go run around in it. First snow sprints were a tradition, and the fact that it was nearing midnight sure as hell wasn't going to stop her from carrying on what her parents had started, even though they would surely kill her if they found out she'd snuck out well past her bedtime just to go play in the snow.

She was lucky that she kept her gloves in her school backpack, rushing over to where her bag was resting against the leg of her desk and crouching down to riffle through the binders and folders inside for that back pocket where she always tucked her mittens. Her heaviest and warmest coat was hanging on the coatrack in the entryway downstairs, but she didn't plan on staying outside for too long, opting for a fuzzy sweater and sweatshirt instead. Similarly, since she lacked access to her snow pants, she quietly tip-toed over to her dresser and slid the second drawer open as carefully as she could, figuring that two pairs of leggings underneath an oversized pair of sweatpants would suffice. The last addition to her outfit was a few pairs of fuzzy socks and her sneakers since her boots were downstairs too, and once they were laced on her feet, she crept towards her window, a gust of cold wind rushing into her room as she slid it open.

Although she'd gone out onto the roof through her window many times to lay there and stargaze, she'd never actually snuck out through it before, nor did she really have any plans yet for how she was going to get from the roof to the ground without breaking a leg, but she was too excited to let that slow her down, figuring she'd think of something when she got that far.

With an eager grin, she lifted one of her feet onto the window sill, her hands wrapping around the sides of the frame as she ducked her head beneath the glass and pulled herself through the open space.

Her other foot had just barely made contact with the snow on her roof when movement across the way drew her attention, her eyes widening as she caught sight of a head of salmon hair ducking through a window on the side of the house next to hers just like she was, the boy next door staring back at her with eyes just as wide as hers when he caught sight of her.

"Natsu!" Lucy whisper-screamed, still mindful of her parents sleeping just down the hallway from her room, "What are you doing?!"

"What am I doing?" the fourteen-year-old's eyes shifted about as if he was looking for the answer himself before he just nonchalantly shrugged, copying her whisper-scream to insure that she heard him across the chasm between their homes, but speaking with a lot less anxiety as he simply replied, "Sneaking out. What are _you_ doing?"

"I…I, uh…" the blonde's voice faded out when she realized that she really had no right to be reprimanding him when she was doing the exact same thing, as proven by the fact that her body was halfway out her window.

Natsu gave her a smug grin, victoriously claiming, "That's what I thought, Luce. Don't pretend to be so innocent."

"I'm not pretending to be anything, dum-" she cut herself off with a sharp inhale when the foot she'd placed in the snow suddenly slid out from her, tucking her body into a ball as she skidded forward. Her arms flailed out on instinct during her quick slide along the slick shingles to the edge of the roof, but she saved herself at the last second, the instinctive bracing of one of her feet against the rain gutter the only thing keeping her tumbling from the roof to the ground below.

Well…there was definitely no getting back into her room now.

She shakily tore her gaze away from the ground, raising it to Natsu's once more. He looked about ready to jump out of his window, visibly releasing the breath he'd been holding when her eyes made contact with his. But his body was still tense, his voice more anxious as he whisper-called across the gap once more, "Just stay there, Luce! Let me get down first!"

"Be careful!" Lucy uttered, still tensely holding herself up with that one foot as he made to exit his own home, apparently deciding to go through his window since he was already there, and therefore it was the quicker option even though it probably would've been much safer for him to go through the front door instead given what had just happened to the blonde.

And like Lucy had expected, he'd only managed about two crouched steps before he faced a similar fate as she had, though unlike her, he didn't manage to catch himself. She barely managed to withhold a scream as he tumbled from the edge, his fall, although somewhat controlled, ending with a face-plant in the snow, white flakes flying up in every direction.

Lucy's eyes were wide, leaning as far forward as she dared as she worriedly called, "Are you okay?!"

"Yeah…fine," he huffed out as he finally moved from where he'd fallen, pushing himself up with his lips pulled back in a silent hiss.

"That face doesn't make it seem like you're fine," she mumbled with a bit of spite, but her features were still contorted with concern.

He stood with a heavy exhale, "Well, nothing's broken…I think…"

Lucy only watched on silently as he rolled out his neck and shoulders to work out a few kinks, trudging through the snow towards where she still sat, frigidly frozen in place so as not to fall, stopping right beneath where she rested and lifting his arms above his head.

He quirked a brow when she did nothing but stare at him in confusion, "You coming or what?"

Lucy's eyes widened as she hissed, "You want me to just jump?!"

"I'm gonna catch you," he responded simply, as if it was no big deal, which to him, it wasn't.

"I am _not_ jumping!"

"What? You don't trust me?"

"It's not that I don't trust you, it's that I don't trust your stupid idea!"

"Well," he shrugged his shoulders, obviously trying to make a point as he mumbled, "I don't think there's any other way you're getting down from there, so if you want to be stuck up there all night, then be my gue-"

"Fine!" Lucy haughtily cut him off. "I get it, alright? Just…just give me a sec…"

"I ain't gonna let you get hurt, Luce," he reassured softly when her faded out in uncertainty, still holding his arms sturdily above his head to add to the verity of his pledge, "I'm not going anywhere. I swear I'll catch ya."

She stared at him in silence or a moment more before she softly breathed out, "'kay."

She lifted her foot from the storm drain, her body sliding forward now that its support had been removed. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut as she felt her body slip over the edge of the roof, the cold wind rushing up to meet her as she fell.

And then suddenly, there was warmth, a pair of arms wrapping around her middle and holding her tight as she continued to fall. The warmth continued to surround her front as she landed, though her body was horizontal instead of vertical like she had been anticipating.

She finally managed to peel her eyes open and shakily use her hands to push her upper body up, finding Natsu splayed out on the ground beneath her, having taken the force of her fall for her by placing himself on the bottom as they collapsed to the ground.

His eyes were squeezed shut and his face was clenched, making him look like he was trying to stop himself from groaning in pain as he hissed, "Why'd you have to wear so much stuff, weirdo? You…you look like a stupid marshmallow."

She let out a half-hearted tsk, partially out of a relief and partially out of annoyance as she pushed herself off of him so he could breath, flopping onto her back into the snow next to him as she jabbed, "And you look like a dummy for not wearing anything other than your PJs."

He had no form of retaliation other than a halfhearted, wordless mumble, the air going silent around them after the fact.

Lucy stared up at the flakes falling from the dark gray sky, her wish to run around in the freshly fallen snow completely diminished with how it'd threatened her and her best friend's safety only moments ago.

They definitely weren't going to be able to sneak back into their houses through their windows like they'd been hoping, and Lucy was sure that neither of them could even reach their roof from the ground anyways. That meant they'd have to face the wrath of their parents, but somehow, staring up at the snow as it fell while lying beside her best friend, who had just saved her, made the whole ordeal worth it.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but something told her that midnight had come and gone, her voice light as she gently called, "Natsu?"

"Yeah, Luce?" the salmon haired boy hummed in response.

She turned her head in the snow, a gentle smile on her face, "Merry Christmas."

His head shifted in the snow to look her way as well, white flakes speckling his salmon haired as he grinned, "Merry Christmas, Lucy."

* * *

 **AN**

 **Yet another chapter that turned out vastly different from what I had originally planned…I'm not mad about it though :) They were supposed to go out and build a snowman, but then I came up with the falling-off-the-roof thing, so I moved the snowman to a later chapter.**

 **I'm off to my last final of the semester, and let me tell ya, I couldn't be more ready to have school over with. I'm super excited for the next fics I have planned, and now that this and Save Me will be coming to a close, I 'll finally have time to work on them!**

 **Thanks to all of my wonderful reviewers! And to answer aliciacevbra and anyone else who might be wondering: Yep, I am a dancer! So a lot of the events with Lucy and ballet are based off of things I went through. I started taking ballet classes at the house next door when I was just two years old, and then when I was eight, we moved to the states and I joined a super intensive competition dance studio. Contemporary and jazz are my** **strongest and favorite genres, but as part of the competitive program we were required to do at least an hour a week of just about every style you could imagine, so starting from when I was thirteen up until I graduated high school I was doing four and a half hours of ballet every week (which includes an hour of pointe). I was in Ballet West's Nutcracker production for seven or eight years in a row too, so I definitely love ballet lots :) (Sorry if that was more than you were expecting, but dance is one of the things I'm most passionate about, so I could literally go on for days)**

 **Anyways, thanks for reading!**

 **Hint for next chapter: It's what I like to call the "damn, my best friend's kinda growing up to be super attractive" chapter ;)**


	15. Chapter 15

In her early morning, sleep-deprived walk to school, Lucy really wasn't processing much of what was happening around her.

But one thing that she did know was that it was absolutely freezing. Like, freeze-your-ass-off freezing.

The fourteen-year-old had bundled herself in more sweatshirts, coats, scarves, jackets, gloves, hats, sweatpants, and socks than should be legal, and she was _still_ cold, the frigid air somehow creeping in through the crevices of her clothes to cling to her skin. It didn't help that the soles of her boots were starting to wear thin from how much she'd worn them, the wetness on the ground creeping through to dampen the first layer of her many her socks.

Despite those minor causalities, she was still doing a whole lot better at staying warm than Natsu was, the fifteen-year-old, salmon haired boy having met her in front of her house in a t-shirt and a pair of shorts of all things. The only thing about his outfit that made sense for the frigid weather was the white, scaly scarf around his neck, but she knew that he wore it for its sentimental value, not because he was trying to fend off the cold. She'd somehow managed to push through her drowsiness and incredulously chastised him right away about how he was going to get sick if he went outside like that, but with his signature grin, he'd insisted that he could withstand the cold better than anyone before slipping one of his earbuds into her ear like he did every day so they could both listen to some tunes on their stroll, having to tuck his fingers underneath the thick, woven hat she'd secured on her head.

It'd only taken five minutes of walking for him to regret that decision.

Now, he was very visibly shivering, and his teeth were chattering. Lucy could easily tell, no matter how hard he tried to hide it by turning his head away from her and tucking his hands into his pockets to scrape whatever heat he could from the small pouches.

The blonde was often told that she was incredibly stubborn, but really, she thought that Natsu was the more stubborn of the two of them. He wasn't one to admit defeat, and that meant he wasn't quick to admit he'd been wrong either, his will to be victorious in everything and anything oftentimes getting him into trouble, usually with Gray and Erza, but he'd had a few spats with other random people along the line, too.

Knowing her movement would tug on him, Lucy removed his earbud from her ear before she quickly shed her topmost layer, the thick, puffy, black coat her mother had given her last Christmas that fell to her mid-thighs, shoving it into his chest with a look on her features that she hoped made him realize she wasn't going to be trifled with in this moment.

"Take it," she commanded monotonously, her arm still held out straight and her fist, with the shoulder of the coat clenched within it, pressing against his chest.

He froze in place as the two words slipped from her mouth, his brows furrowed as his eyes shot between her face and the hand at his chest a few times before he bluntly blurted, "What?"

"Take the coat," she pressed her fist harder against him, "You're obviously freezing, so take it."

He lifted a brow before letting out a tentative chuckle, "I don't think it's gonna fit me, Luce."

She pursed her lips when, to her chagrin, she realized that he was right, that with his ever-broadening build, it was highly unlikely that he'd fit into anything made for someone her size. He wasn't the scrawny little pinkette she'd grown up with anymore, and even though she saw him nearly every day of her life, how much he'd changed recently, like within the last two or three years, still had her stopping and staring at him sometimes as if she was just taking note of how much he'd grown for the first time. She swore to herself she wasn't ogling him, because he was her best friend for God's sake, not anything more than that. And whenever someone else caught her staring, most often it was Erza, Gray, Levy, or Mira, she would about rip their tongues out trying to get them to stop chuckling and giggling and staring at her with their smug grins and, on the raven haired boy's part, the suggestive wiggling of their eyebrows.

She forced all of those thoughts, of both Natsu's broad frame and her friends' teasing, aside just like she always did, her own stubbornness showing through as she pressed her fist even harder against his chest and grumbled, "Then just stick your damn arms in it, dummy."

Natsu's eyes widened.

Lucy rarely swore. Only when she was feeling sassy or when she was incredibly pissed off. He wasn't sure which category she fit under at the moment though, and then he realized that maybe drowsy and sleep-deprived Lucy was another type of Lucy that liked profanity.

Her choice of words made him understand that there was no way out of this other than wearing the stupid coat. If he didn't, he would surely put himself at risk of receiving a Lucy-kick, which were pretty powerful considering how small and dainty the blonde looked upon first glance. But he knew her, and her body, better than that, which oftentimes brought a blush to his cheeks when he realized how much he stared at her without really realizing it. He just couldn't help it sometimes though, his eyes often just naturally wandering in her direction whenever there was a lull in whatever had previously occupied his attention, his eyes finding her almost like instinct. Years of ballet had kept her lean while toning her muscles to Erza-levels of fitness, and her more feminine traits certainly weren't anything to be forgotten either. The later were the things that really had him freaked out, the things that had him staring, because _damn_ , how did he not stare when her body was developing the way it was? He'd never thought himself to be the type of guy to obsess over things like boobs and butts, but when it was Lucy, all of the sudden, he couldn't tear his eyes away.

He told himself that it didn't mean anything though. They were teens, so his reaction to her new… _developments_ was just a product of his own changes, right? His 'attraction' to her or whatever else one might call it _had_ to be a momentary thing, because she was his best friend, his fiery little weirdo, and them trying to be anything more than best friends to each other would just be too weird, too awkward.

Just like the silence they'd been sitting in during his internal debate on whether or not to just take the damn coat she was shoving into his chest. He ended up snatching it from her grasp just like he'd been considering for a good minute or two, not because he was afraid of receiving a Lucy-kick or because the coat smelled like Lucy, but because his parents had taught him to accept kindness from others…or at least that what he told himself.

Lucy watched him spin the coat around a few times to find the inside, her lips pressing into a thin line to keep her emotions from showing when he finally slipped his arms into the sleeves. They didn't even fit all the way in, the coat sliding only about half-way up his biceps.

Was he really already that muscly? She knew that he and Gray liked to work out a lot, or rather, they worked out by beating the crap out of each other, but were his biceps really the same size as her shoulders?

He hugged the rest of the puffy coat into his chest, his cheeks tinged with a slight pink, which she figured was probably from the cold, as he gave her a bright grin, "Thanks, Luce! It's nice and warm!"

Her cheeks burned, the blonde drawing back into her many scarves like a turtle into its shell as she abashedly mumbled, "Yeah…you're…you're welcome."

Before he could catch onto her emotions, she reached back down to where her earbud had fallen to hang at his side, tucking it back into her ear and pulling her hat back down so she wouldn't get cold. She'd missed a good portion of one of her favorite songs, one that she knew he kept on his playlist just because she liked it. But she was hardly focused on the song anymore anyways as they finished their walk to school, her thoughts instead concentrated on the boy beside her, and the arms that were laced through her jacket.

* * *

Lucy dropped her backpack on the floor with a heavy sigh, switching the container of chicken noodle soup she held into her other hand so she could drag the chair from the nearby desk as she grumbled, "Seriously, dummy…I told you you'd get sick if you went out like that."

The lump beneath the comforter on the bed before her shifted as she heard a muffled, "Shut up!" followed by a series of sniffles and coughs.

As she plopped herself down on the chair she'd drug to the bedside, a few salmon tufts poked out of the top of the comforter, followed by a few tan fingers that curled around the edge of the blanket to pull it down enough to reveal a pair of onyx eyes that were set in a glare.

Lucy only gave Natsu a gentle grin, peeling the lid off of the soup container before dipping her spoon inside and only half-joking as she hummed, "You're just lucky it's winter break otherwise you wouldn't have my great self here to take care of you."

* * *

 **AN**

 **I think we've all seen plenty of the 'the guy gives the girl his coat/sweatshirt' trope, and not that I don't love that cliché too, I just thought it'd be nice to see it in reverse for once! I also thought that the coat would be a good way to talk about another favorite trope of mine, the 'damn, my best friend's kinda growing up to be super attractive' trope ;)**

 **Thanks so much for reading! And a special thank you to those that reviewed! You give me life!**

 **Next chapter's gonna be the angsty one I told you about in my very first AN. And it turned out way more angsty and sad than I was originally planning, so I just thought I should let you know, so that you're prepared**


	16. Chapter 16

**Just a reminder: this is the** _ **reeeeaaaaalllly**_ **angsty chapter, so be prepared. And again, this came out way sadder than I'd originally planned, so sorry...**

* * *

Natsu pressed his lips into a grim line as he flicked his headlights off, killing the engine of his car by twisting the keys in the ignition and tucking them into his pocket. With the lights of his car diminished, only a single, dim streetlight was left to light the park before him, its lamp further muffled by the flakes drifting through the frigid air.

It was the type of snow storm where the air was turned a shade of off-white, the sights beyond the playground a mystery due to the shrouded atmosphere. But he didn't need to be able see around him to know what was there, the hours he'd spent at the playground as a kid permanently etching the view from the top of the highest play structure into his memory. The hill he and his friends always went to for their annual sledding races was off to the east, and the field that had housed many snowball fights was to the west, the park serving as the epicenter of many of their adventures together. The playground itself was old and worn, its paint chipped and rusted over, but its age only added to its sentiment in the hearts of those who had played there as children. With the weather, the structure was covered in little patches of snow now, too, the flakes piling up wherever the metal was at least a little bit flat.

The whole setting was rather serene, the lone playground serving as the perfect place for a fifteen-year-old girl to escape to for the sake of being on her own while she cried her eyes out for the zillionth time since that faithful day three and a half weeks ago.

She sat on one of the two swings with her back to him, her blonde head bowed and her boots crunching in the snow as she very slowly rocked between the heels and balls of her feet, numbly swinging herself back and forth a tiny fraction. Pale hands, covered by a pair of fingerless gloves, clung to the chains of the swing, the flesh of her fingers burning red from the cold. Tiny flecks of white sat undisturbed atop her gray, knitted hat, giving away the longevity of her stay at the park.

She was still fifteen, so Natsu knew that she'd probably walked from her home to the park, which wasn't that great of a trek, but with this weather, it surely couldn't have been pleasant. He wondered if she'd even noticed the cold though with her thoughts being as preoccupying as they were, and over time, her body had surely become numb to the frigid air.

That small thought alone was enough to garner his concern, but with what had happened, he hadn't stopped worrying about his best friend over the past three and a half weeks, his fear for her health just another concern on a list of many.

Jude and Layla Heartfilia had died in a car accident, another vehicle striking black ice and skidding into their car, sending it veering off of the road and tumbling down a steep precipice, killing Layla immediately and ultimately claiming Jude a few short hours later. It was incredibly cruel that such was the case, that the things their daughter loved so much, that snow and winter had been the things to take them away from her for the rest of her life.

It was a cliché thing to say, but Lucy really hadn't been herself at all since that moment she'd heard the news, since she'd heard that last beep on her father's heart monitor before he flat lined. Natsu knew better than anyone how it'd affected her. He'd been sitting beside her at his dinner table as they played a board game with Wendy when she'd received the call, and he and his parents been standing in the hallway of the hospital beside her when the quickening beeping of the monitor inside of the hospital room before them stopped altogether. And he'd been the one to catch her when she'd crumpled to the floor, the one to hold her as her frame trembled with heart wrenching sobs.

In their sixteen years of friendship, he'd never seen her cry so hard, though he couldn't blame her or say a word about it. He'd only held onto her just as tightly as she'd held onto him, his own heart grieving and wailing over the loss of the couple that had been like his second parents. And when the tears had stopped, it was as if she'd cried out everything that made her Lucy. She didn't smile, she didn't laugh. She didn't even scold him when he did something dumb. She was just existing without really being there, and he'd resolved that the best thing to do was to let her be…until one day turned into two and two days turned into a week and one week turned into three. His best friend was falling apart, or rather, she _had_ already fallen apart and was only hanging on by just a few thin strings.

Natsu didn't know where to begin with piecing her back together, or if she really wanted to go back to the way things had been in the first place. _She'd_ always been the peacemaker in their friend group, the one to resolve fights and make amends and make sure that at the end of the day, they were all still friends and everyone was happy. He never would've imagined that one day, he'd have to fill her role, that he'd be tasked with helping the stubborn, resilient blonde he'd known since before he could remember get back on her feet. But then again, it wasn't like anyone was forcing him to be here in this moment. He'd come to the park entirely of his own volition, knowing that of all places, this was where she would be.

He'd come to pull her out of the hollow emptiness she'd fallen into, finally managing to gather the strength to open his door and exit his car after minutes of doing nothing but just sitting in the driver's seat.

It wasn't like he was afraid of her or didn't want to be around her, because he sure as hell did. It was his uncertainty in himself that had kept him in his car for so long, just staring at her as she slowly swung back and forth. Were the words he carried ones that she wanted to hear? Would they actually help her recover, or would they only make her shut him out entirely?

He was obviously and understandably praying for the former, that his words would have their desired effect and she'd let herself rely on him a little as she recovered from her loss. He didn't know what he'd do if the reverse came to be, because he needed her just as much as she needed him.

He'd nearly lost it, both in terms of anger and despair, when the possibility of her moving in with relatives now that her parents were gone had arisen. Things had eventually worked out, with her godmother, Aquarius, moving into the home instead of the blonde having to move out, and his concern had been set at ease, knowing that even if she had moved away, they would've kept in touch, because they were best friends who wouldn't let something as petty as distance ruin what they'd formed over the span of their entire lives.

But this, if he messed up this moment… _that_ was something he suspected might ruin what they had. With Lucy being as vulnerable and sensitive as she was with her parents freshly ripped away from her, he felt that even the fact that he was her best friend couldn't save him from what might happen if he said the wrong thing. He tried to reassure himself by thinking of all the years he'd spent by her side, reminding himself that he _knew_ her, understood her better than anyone else, he liked to think.

He kept repeating those reassurances in his head like mantra as his feet crunched through the snow on his walk towards her, his eyes never leaving her downtrodden figure. If things had been different, he might've run up to her to scare her, tugging her swing back until it was as high as he could get it before launching her forward. But because things were the way they were, because of the heavy weight upon his chest, he only silently brushed the snow off the rubber of the swing beside her before taking a seat, his arms wrapping around the chain before he tucked his hands back into the pockets of his coat.

She didn't even look his way, her head still hung.

Without realizing, he copied her steady rhythm of rocking on her feet to swing back and forth, his voice as gentle and steady as he could manage, "Hey, Luce…"

His only answer was a sniffle, and he realized that she was crying, just like he'd expected. It wasn't the sobbing or weeping kind of crying though, it was the silent, broken kind, tears silently streaming down her face while the rest of her features stayed blank, frozen in an expression of no discernible emotion.

At her silence, Natsu cleared his throat, still speaking softly as he tentatively continued, "Gray called me. He said Juvia's really worried about you, since you haven't been going to rehearsal." Since she didn't seem to be in the mood for making conversation, he got straight to his point, warry of how she might react if he tried to beat around the bush. Lucy had never been one for dishonesty or indirectness, so he'd resolved to say what he wanted to say before anything, whether the blonde or his own uncertainty, could stop him. He'd wanted to find a reason he could use to inspire to keep going, something to get her back on track so that he didn't lose her completely. Dance was one of her greatest passions, so he figured that that was as good of a place as any to start, especially since she'd once told him that when she danced, it was like the rest of the world faded away and nothing else mattered. If he could do something to get her back into that form of release so that she could forget her sorrow and begin to mend, then he would do it, and he'd be there with her every step of the way, patiently and consistently supporting her every step of the way, no matter how hard things got.

The salmon haired boy ran his tongue across his lips before he quietly and softly encouraged over the squeaking of the rusted chains of their swings, "You should-I mean… _when you're ready_ , you should keep going to practice. I'll even take you to your rehearsals if you need someone to. You've already come this far, and you've always wanted to dance professionally, so you shouldn't-"

"They're gone, Natsu," she monotonously pressed out, her voice slightly strained and hoarse. "My parents…" she took a shuddering breath, her hands uncurling from the swing and falling to clench tightly into fists atop her thighs, "…are gone. Going to practice…it's pointless now. Even if I did become a professional dancer and make it onto a company, I…I don't have anyone left to be proud of me."

His heart lurched as she spoke, both from what she'd said and her broken and defeated tone. She sounded too sure of herself as she muttered those last few words, and he knew that she really believed them, that she believed she was all on her own now.

"I would be proud of you," he pressed back almost immediately, the words spilling from his mouth on instinct, coming from the deepest, truest part of his heart. He couldn't stop himself from shooting to his feet, his fervent need for her to realize how wrong she was driving him to his knees in front of her, needing to see her face to make sure she was listening as he listed, "And Gray, and Erza, and Levy, and Mira, and Cana, and _so many other people,_ Luce. You don't have to deal with this on your own. We're all here for you," he reached forward to tug both of her freezing, frigid hands into his own warm ones, squeezing them tight, " _I'm_ here for you. Whenever you need me, I swear I'll be there, Luce."

He didn't know how many times he'd said those words, or at least some variation of them, over the past three and a half weeks, but this time, they actually seemed to register with the blonde.

"Natsu…" her lips quivered as she uttered his name, more tears slipping down her cheeks as she slid her eyes shut and ducked her head, letting loose a weak sob, "I…I just…it's _so_ hard."

"I know, Luce… _I know_ ," he pressed, his own voice growing choked, "But I ain't gonna let you endure it on your own. I'm here for you, and I care for you, so I'm not going anywhere. I'll _always_ be by your side."

Another sob slipped from her lips as she let herself collapse forward onto him, her legs landing on either side of his so that she was straddling his hips as her arms wound around his neck, burying her face into his salmon locks and scarf. He wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her more tightly against him in return, both because she was absolutely freezing and because there was nothing else he could do. His words had been enough, he could tell, and now, all she needed was for him to hold her and stay by her side. And he would, just like he'd promised, always.

* * *

 **AN**

 **Although Christmas fluffiness is great and I wanted to make this an overall happy fic, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of this chapter. This chapter, like the sixth and thirteenth, was part of the original storyline when I first came up with this fic, and like other components of this story, it's based off of things that I went through. I'm fortunate enough to still have and live with both of my parents, but I did lose a very dear friend to a car accident about two years ago (and, just fyi, I'm not bringing this up for pity, because every single one of us is familiar with loss in some shape or form, so we can definitely all relate). I just thought that this would be a good contrast to the previous chapters to add some realism and get a different perspective on Natsu and Lucy's relationship as opposed to everything being all fluff (and pure fluff is fine, it's just not usually my preference). This also brings about an important theme that we've kind of touched on already and that I'll continue to emphasize throughout this story: endurance and strength oftentimes comes from those we love, and when we don't feel like we can carry on, our loved ones will be there to pick us up and keep us moving forward.**

 **Anyways, thanks for reading and hope I didn't make you too sad. This is the only angst we'll get, and the rest of the story will be fluff :)**

 **Hint for next chapter: High School Christmas Dance**


	17. Chapter 17

**Back to the fluff! :)**

* * *

Natsu let out a heavy sigh as he settled next to his favorite blonde at their usual table in the cafeteria, the rest of their friends still not there yet. He gave the girl a bright grin as he began to babble, "So I talked to the popsicle during gym earlier about the day activity on Saturday, and he said he's picking up Juvia around elevenish, so we'll probably be at your house around eleven fif-"

"Um, excuse me, but…" Lucy cut him off with her brows furrowed, slowly setting her fork down and confusion filling her tone as she muttered, "…when did we decide we were hanging out this weekend?"

Natsu stared at her blankly for a moment before his eyes widened in realization, a sharp intake of breath slipping through his lips as he mumbled to himself, "Shit, I forgot to ask you." He slapped a hand against his forehead, his tone making it sound as if the entire world was coming to end with how much stress it conveyed, "So _that's_ why you haven't told me what color your dress is yet."

"Wait…you forgot to ask me? Ask me what?" she confused repeatedly. Her eyes widened as she finally understood, "You mean to the _Christmas dance_?!"

"Why are you yelling?!" he shot back, uncaring of the eyes they were drawing to their table, "I'm already stressed out enough!"

"This isn't the kind of thing you can just spring on a girl a week before the dance!" she reprimanded. "You should've asked me _weeks_ ago if you wanted to go together!"

"I meant to, but I just forgot! Wait," his voice suddenly dropped off in volume, something akin to horror filling his irises as he hesitantly inquired, "You…you haven't already been asked, have you?"

"I-No! You think any guy would dare to ask me with the way you glare at every male who's not your friend?" she jabbed.

The salmon haired boy scrambled for a response, his words rushed as he stammered, "Well can you blame me?! They're all freaks!"

" _You're_ the freak!" Lucy spat back. "What kind of idiot forgets to ask someone to the dance until the week before?"

Natsu let out a heavy breath, giving her a pointed stare as he ground out, "So are we going to the dance together or not?"

"I…I don't know!" Lucy huffed out, hurriedly gathering her things from their table so she could stomp off and fume somewhere that wasn't in front of a cafeteria of her schoolmates. She swung her backpack over her shoulder, hissing in the salmon haired boy's face before she stormed off, "If you wanted to go, you should've asked me earlier, dummy!"

* * *

Lucy let out a heavy sigh as she trotted down the stairs to answer her front door, not at all happy at having her studying interrupted, but forcing a pleasant grin onto her face nevertheless as she twisted the nob and pulled the door open.

Her smile faded and her eyes widened at what waited on the other side.

Natsu stood on her doorstep, a plate piled high with a mountain of poorly baked brownies balanced precariously between his hands. He looked flustered, the huffing of his chest making it seem like he was out of breath.

"Um…Hi?" the blonde tentatively greeted, her brows furrowed in confusion.

"I…Hey," he huffed out, still holding the plate awkwardly and taking a deep breath before blabbing, "I just…I felt _really_ bad about not asking you to the dance officially and then we watched this super scary documentary in health about anorexic ballerinas and I couldn't stop thinking about you so I made you some brownies and I just thought you deserve to know," he paused to take a deep breath, his face growing even redder, "I think you're fucking gorgeous and you can eat whatever you want! And if someone insults your weight, eat them too!"

Lucy's eyes were wide, the rest of her frame frozen as she stared at him in silence.

Natsu clenched his hands tighter around the plate of brownies, holding them out to her as if in tribute as he begged, "So please please please _plllleeeaaaassse_ go to the dance with me?!"

The blonde stared at him with wide eyes for a moment more before she let out a heavy sigh, her features softening as she gently hummed, "Of course, you dummy."

"Oh, thank God," all of the tension in Natsu's body faded at once, a look of relief settling upon his features, "The snowflake was never gonna let me live it down if you said no."

She let out a breathy laugh before she started, "Natsu…I'm sorry about earlier. I just…finding a dress and ordering flowers and all that is gonna be hard with such short notice."

He hunched his shoulders in embarrassment, his eyes dropping to the ground, "Yeah…Sorry 'bout that…"

"It's okay," Lucy reassured, a gentle smile on her features, "We'll find a way. We always do, right?"

A bright grin spread across his features, nodding his head once as he enthusiastically jeered, "Yep. Nothin' ever stops us."

* * *

"Natsu…" the blonde swallowed heavily, standing completely still at the entrance of the rink and staring at the people, adults and children alike, sliding around the ice around her, "…I…This was a bad idea…Get me off of this ice right now…I really can't skate…"

"Come on, Luce," the salmon haired boy shrugged off her concerns, his hands tucked into his pockets as he skated back towards her, "You'll be fine."

"I'm serious, Natsu!" the blonde huffed out, not daring to take a step and risk toppling over due to her instability on the skates the salmon haired boy had forced onto her feet while Gray and Gajeel had pinned her down. "Why didn't you tell me we were going ice skating for our day date? I'm going to end up breaking all of my bones!"

Natsu rolled his eyes, skating towards her and flicking up ice shavings as he slid to a stop at her side, offering her his elbow, "Just grab on. I'll tug you around."

The blonde stared at him with her lips set in a pout for a few moments before a look of hesitant determination crossed her features, her eyes shooting between his elbow and his face several times as if she thought he was going to pull a prank as she reached out for it with both hands. Her ankles wobbled as he began to tug her away from the entrance, her eyes widening as her body went tense.

He snorted at her inability, chuckling as he guided her to the wall of the rink, "You're a dancer, Luce. I thought you were supposed to have good balance?"

The blonde lost it, clenching his arm tighter as she hissed, "That's on solid ground! Not ice! The marley floor at the studio is nowhere near as slippery as this!"

"But you balance on just your toes. Being on skates is practically the same thing."

"No, it is not!" she would've whapped him if not for her fear of toppling over if she let go of him for even a second. She did eventually move one of her hands to the wall of the rink, not trusting the salmon haired boy to refrain from being an ass and abandoning her once he'd stranded her halfway around the rink.

"We'll go nice and slow," he reassured, still keeping a calm pace as she used the wall and his elbow to drag herself along without lifting her feet even once. He let out a heavy sigh before he advised, "You gotta lift your feet and bend your legs at least a little, Luce. You aren't gonna have any control if you keep 'em straight."

The blonde licked her lips before she clenched all of her muscles in fear as she lifted her foot the tiniest fraction, her knees bending only the slightest bit. Her furrowed brows relaxed a fraction as her feet began to glide instead of bumble along.

"See? There you go!" Natsu encouraged as the drag on his elbow decreased a fraction, "I told ya it just takes a wee-bit of practice."

The blonde shrieked as she misplaced her foot, her leg sliding out from under her and one of her skates clipping the blade of Natsu's right foot, sending the salmon haired boy tumbling to the ground with her.

He landed heavily on his shoulder, his jaw clenched as he hissed, "What the hell, Lucy?!"

"I told you I can't ice skate!" the blonde spat back, clutching at the back of her own head.

"Yeah," Natsu groaned, ignoring the snickers of their friends as he and the blonde floundered on the ice, "I can see that now. Maybe we should just go sit on the bleachers."

She let out a heavy sigh as she pushed her upper body up off of the floor, "Fine by me...If I can make it back to the entrance before I die and break all of my bones."

* * *

"I'm…not so sure about dancing…"

Natsu turned over his shoulder to give his date an incredulous look as they stepped onto the dance floor, once more mentally thanking God for how fucking gorgeous she was in her floor-length, flowy red dress, with its lace bodice and long sleeves and pearl covered neckline, with her hair done in loose curls, as he exasperatedly asked, "First skating and now this, too? You're a _dancer_ , Luce. You'll be fine."

The blonde tangled her hands in the sheer fabric of the top of layer of her dress' skirt, "Yeah, but…I can't exactly pirouette and jeté my way across the dance floor. I do ballet, not…whatever the heck you call… _that_."

Natsu followed her uncertain gaze to the group of students circled up on the dance floor, blanching as he caught sight of Cana in the middle of the crowd doing some wiggly and awkward, second-hand-embarrassment-inducing version of the twerk. "Well…I'm not sure that I'm up for something like that either," he slowly admitted, shivering as he pulled his focus away. Seeing his longtime friend further ruin her reputation like that wasn't something he needed.

Just then, the music shifted as if reacting to their entrance, the speakers playing a gentle tune that he didn't know, but one that was obviously meant for slow dancing.

Although he was more for exciting and upbeat songs, he figured a slow dance wouldn't be such a bad start for his partner. He gave her a lopsided grin, adopting his best attempt at what he meant to be a French accent as he offered her his hand and dramatically inquired, "A dance, mademoiselle?"

The blonde's lips quirked the tiniest fraction at his shoddy humor, but she'd be damned if she didn't respond appropriately as his best friend, using her own highly offensively accent as she slid her hand into his, "Oui, monsieur."

He theatrically dipped himself forward in a sweeping bow, pressing his lips against her knuckles in the briefest of kisses.

Lucy fought to keep her features from showing how she was internally screaming at his kiss, pressing her lips tightly together and lifting her cheeks to keep any squeals from slipping out of her mouth.

Natsu used his grip on her hand to gently tug her closer, spinning her palm in his grasp to hold it appropriately and setting his other hand on her waist. Her free hand found his shoulder almost on instinct, and they settled into a steady rhythm, swaying and stepping in time with the music.

Once they both got a hold of the simple dance, Natsu decided it was time to spruce it up a bit and make it more exciting, giving the blonde a mischievous grin, "You wanna try a spin?"

The blonde's brows furrowed a tiny bit, "Like, where I go under your arm? Or where you spin me out?"

"The first," he hummed, gripping the hand he held in his tighter. "Ready?"

He lifted his arm above her head, the blonde's curls nearly whapping him in the face as she whipped herself around.

Her hand shot back to his shoulder as she steadied herself, her features alight with a slight thrill, "That was…fun."

"Faster?" he questioned, quirking a mischievous brow.

"Faster," she nodded.

This time, she miss-stepped during her spin, landing on one of her heels at the wrong angle. When her ankle gave out on her, she stumbled forward, Natsu's hands shooting out to catch her on instinct, his arms wrapping around her middle as her hands slammed onto his chest.

The both froze at the position they'd found themselves in, with her front pressed snugly against his, staring at one another with wide eyes.

Lucy was the first to break out of her paralysis, not pulling back at all, but turning her gaze to the side in embarrassment, the side of her head pressed against his chest. She took a few deep breaths in a failed attempt at calming herself, though she really didn't start to relax again until the salmon haired boy gently began to sway to the music once more, the way his arms were still wrapped around her moving her body softly with his.

The blonde let herself melt against him, her frame relaxing into his as she called, "Natsu?"

He only hummed in response, though he wasn't sure whether or not she heard him over the music.

She didn't, but the vibrating of his chest against the side of her head was enough to key her in. Even though she was wearing a fabulous pair of bedazzled silver heels, she still had to press herself up onto her toes to place her chin on his shoulder so that her mouth rested near his ear, her hands trailing up his chest to settle on his shoulders to aid her in keeping her balance, "Thank you, Natsu…for asking me to come with you. I know I must be annoying because ballet is literally the only thing I'm good at, so really…thanks for putting up with me."

She pulled her body back while wrapping her arms around his neck, finding that he had a look akin to surprise on his face. But when he saw that she was staring, his features relaxed and he adopted his signature bright grin, a laugh in his voice as he professed, "Weirdo. I wouldn't want to be here with anyone else."

Lucy grinned, relishing in the feeling of his arms around her as she confessed, "I wouldn't want to be here with anyone else other than you either, pinky."

He gave her a pout at the nickname, but it was quickly melting away once more, the pair holding each other close and dancing all night long.

* * *

 **AN**

 **Ahh, high school dances were always an interesting and awkward, but enjoyable time.**

 **Anyways, thanks for reading!**

 **Hint for next chapter: Sledding part 2, but with a special treat the end ;)**


	18. Chapter 18

With a dramatic sigh, Natsu splayed him upper body out over his desk in boredom, his words jumbled as he spoke with his face mushed against the wood, "Lucy…let's hang out after school."

In the seat next to him, the blonde let out a heavy sigh, not even turning her focus from her book as she immediately responded on instinct, having said the same phrase nearly a hundred times in her life, "I can't, I have rehearsal."

"But you had rehearsal yesterday," the salmon haired boy quipped grouchily.

"Yep," she huffed out, still not looking at him, "and I have rehearsal every day after today, and then performances every night for the next two weeks."

"But its winter break for the next two weeks."

"How many times do I have to tell you that school breaks don't apply to my dance schedule?"

"Ugh, you suck." He folded his arms atop his desk and set his chin on them, his lips set in a sour pout as he grumbled, "We never get to hang out anymore."

Lucy finally set her book down on her desk and twisted in her chair to face him with a light sigh, giving him a smug smile, "Don't forget you were the one that gave me my first pair of ballet slippers. You started this whole thing."

"Oh, shut up," he exasperatedly snarled, purposefully looking anywhere but at her.

The blonde bit her lip, thinking of ways she could make it up to her best friend. Between her determination to excel in school so she could get into a good college next year and her dedication to ballet, she hadn't had much time to spare for people other than her godmother, and even though she'd promised Natsu she wouldn't regret her choices, she did feel bad for neglecting her best friend, and she sure as hell missed spending time with him, too. Of course they saw each other at school every day, but those brief seven hours really weren't satisfying for either of them, which made sense considering they were never given the leisure of doing whatever they wanted while in class.

Lucy let out a heavy sigh as she thought over the only idea for spending some time with him that came to mind, dreading her decision but knowing it was her only choice.

She was normally exhausted beyond belief when she arrived home after rehearsals, and a warm shower quickly followed by sleep was always the only remedy for her sore muscles and tired mind. But she quickly resolved that for just one night, she could make the sacrifice and stay up, especially if it was for Natsu.

"Hey…" she started softly, wary of the fact that he was still obviously very grouchy, "…since it's the last day before break and we don't have school tomorrow, I won't have to wake up early…You want to do something after I get home from rehearsal? I won't get home until around eleven, but-"

"You mean it?" he mumbled, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye as if he thought she was joking with him.

"Of course, Natsu," she exasperatedly huffed out, "I want to hang out too, so you shouldn't be the only one trying to make things work. I'll stay up if it means we can spend a few hours together."

"…Really?"

" _Yes_ ," she hissed, "Though I might not mean it if you keep doubting my integrity."

He pouted at her for a moment more before his lips quirked up a fraction at the edges.

The blonde let out a heavy sigh at his childish behavior, "So, what do you want to do?"

A wicked smirk spread across the salmon haired boy's lips, anticipation lining his tone as he quipped, "I've got a few ideas in mind."

* * *

"Natsu, I…" Lucy swallowed heavily as she curled her fingers tighter around the edges of the cardboard sheet her salmon haired best friend had shoved into her grasp, her eyes wide as she stared down the hill he'd dragged her to. Sledding was not what she'd been anticipating when Natsu had showed up on her doorstep at a quarter to midnight, which was clearly shown by her lack of gloves and a scarf, a pair of a sweatpants, a beanie, and one of Natsu's sweatshirts the only things keeping her warm. And the fact that they didn't have actual sleds was disconcerting too, no matter how many times the salmon haired boy insisted that cardboard sheets would do just fine. "…I'm not so sure how this is gonna go... I'm _really_ tired and I don't think my body wants to listen to me anymore. I might get myself killed by running into that light post down there."

"We'll ride together then," he shrugged off her concern and dumped his own cardboard sheet on the ground, placing his hands on his hips and nodding as he determined that it was definitely big enough for the both of them to sit on, "and I'll steer."

"That…doesn't really make me feel any better," she quietly admitted as she curled into herself.

"What? You don't trust me?" He feigned hurt for a second by dramatically gasping and placing a hand over his heart before giving her his signature bright grin and tossing her cardboard sheet aside, grasping tightly onto her wrist and dragging her down with him as he settled at the front of the sheet, "Come on, this'll be great…if we live."

"What do you mean _if_?!" she spat over his shoulder, wrapping her legs around his waist as he tugged her arms around his neck, knowing there was no way she was getting out of it now that he'd got her onto the sheet behind him.

He didn't bothering giving her a reply, a mad cackle slipping through his lips as he gripped the front of the cardboard and leaned forward, their make-shift sled slowly tipping over the crest of the hill before sliding down it at full speed.

"Hang on tight, Luce!"

Lucy's eyes widened as she peeled them open against the rush of the cold air to see why her best friend sounded so excited, her legs clenching tighter around his middle when she saw the large jump someone had made half-way down the hill, "NO! WE ARE NOT JUMPING THAT!"

"YES WE FUCKING ARE!"

"NATSU!" She wrapped her arms tighter around his neck, probably strangling him with how tightly she was squeezing him, but she was too terrified and mad at him to care.

They hit the bump, a shriek slipping through the blonde's lips as they were both launched into the air, the cardboard sheet disappearing from beneath them.

They half rolled, half skidded to a stop at the bottom of the hill, the pair both groaning as their tumble ended with Natsu on top of Lucy, both of their clothing in various states of disarray and leaving plenty of their skin open for contact with the snow beneath them.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, that's cold," the salmon haired boy ground out, pushing himself up so that he was on his hands and knees above her.

"That's what you get for wearing jeans, idiot," the blonde mumbled, a hand pressed to the tender spot on her forehead where they'd collided during their short flight.

"Luce, I can't feel my legs," he hissed dramatically, "I think you're gonna have to amputate 'em."

"I told you not to jump it, idiot!" she whapped him on the chest with both of her hands in rapid succession.

"Hey, I had it under control!" he leaned back in an attempt to save himself from her half-hearted blows, his arms flailing against hers.

"You absolutely did not! You almost killed us!"

"Stop!" He finally managed to snatch hold of both of her wrists, pinning them in the snow on either side of her head.

They both froze at the sudden shift in atmosphere, Natsu's entire body tensing on top of the blonde's. Even if he'd been the one to instigate it, it'd been on instinct, and now that he was focused enough to realize what he'd done, his cheeks began to burn with embarrassment, little trills of a fluttery feeling rippling through his veins from his chest.

Natsu wasn't sure what made him do it. Maybe it was the way she looked beneath him, with her blonde hair splayed out and shimmering against the pale snow while her cheeks were tinted red from the cold, but maybe also from the fact that he was practically pinning her to the ground too. But whatever it was that made him do it, he had sudden urge to smash his lips against hers.

So he did.

The blonde went rigid at the sudden contact, but despite the frigid cold around her, she was quickly melting into the kiss, her lips melding against his in a way that made her feel like they'd been made for each other. It was her first kiss, and as far as she knew, it was his too, though she was sure that it was because they told each other _everything_ and she'd never heard a word about Natsu's practically nonexistent endeavors with other girls. But despite the lack of experience on both of their parts, it felt perfect, because it wasn't the kiss itself that mattered, but the feelings that were being poured into their point of contact, and the fact that it was _Natsu_ she was kissing. She'd known him her entire life, and he was her best friend…or at least, that's what he _had_ been. Now, she wasn't so sure what they were to one another, but she knew that she sure as hell wasn't going to be okay with things if he wanted to act like nothing had happened, like nothing had changed between them. Because best friends didn't make out in snow drifts, and if Lucy had anything to do with it, this certainly wouldn't be a onetime thing.

He let more of his weight settle onto her as she let his tongue slip past her lips, dropping onto his elbows to be closer to her. In the process, his hands slipped from her wrists, and the blonde responded appropriately, wrapping her now free arms around his neck and tugging him even further down to press her body against his.

In the midst of all the short-circuiting in Lucy's a head, a wicked idea for payback somehow struggled its way to the surface, and she smiled smugly against his mouth as she pressed her frigid fingers onto the back of his warm neck.

Natsu's lips pulled back from her mouth with a shiver, a powerful chill racking his frame as he hissed, "You're such an ass."

"You're the one that didn't give me enough time to grab some gloves," she quipped, pulling her hands back and biting her bottom lip, which was still tingling from his kiss, "Um…not that lying here isn't great, but…I'm kind of freezing."

Lucy inhaled sharply as a smirk flashed to life on his features and he quickly settled back on top of her, his mouth dipping to brush his lips against her ear as he whispered, "I can make you nice and warm."

Her cheeks flushed as she weakly beat at his chest, "Natsu!"

He cut off any further complaints by pressing his mouth against hers once more, though this kiss was a lot sweeter, a lot more gentle and affectionate. He pulled back and gave her his signature bright grin, a laugh in his voice as he hummed, "Thanks for hanging out with me today, Luce."

"I-…of course," she mumbled, her cheeks still burning, both from the cold and the kiss.

Her _first_ kiss.

A massive grin broke out across her features as the reality of what had happened began to settle on her mind when the kiss-induced fog in her head began to clear, an endless stream of girlish giggles threatening to slip from her lips as Natsu took hold of both of her hands to tug her to her feet. She buried her face in his chest once she was standing, wrapping her arms around his waist and relishing in his ever-present warmth with a smile, "Thanks, Natsu. For everything."

If someone had told her that Natsu would be her first kiss when she was a kid, she probably would've gagged, but now, she couldn't think of anyone else with whom she'd rather be.

* * *

 **AN**

 **Woop woop! We've got our first kiss! And it was such a passionate one, too~**

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you back tomorrow!**

 **Hint for next chapter: Hot chocolate and Santa's Christmas grotto**


	19. Chapter 19

Natsu twiddled his thumbs and puffed his cheeks, his eyes absentmindedly wandering around his girlfriend's dorm room.

The blonde was seated at her desk, reading or doing some last minute studying for her final the next day or possibly a bunch of other things, while the salmon haired boy sat on her bed, his focus scanning over his surroundings. Lucy had decorated her and Levy's shared space to fit the season, strands of gold, dangling Christmas lights lining the tops of the walls and daintily-made paper snowflakes hanging from the ceiling at random intervals.

The pinkette bit his bottom lip as he looked around. If only the atmosphere of the room matched the jolly decorations.

He opened his mouth to break the silence, but decided against it at the last second, only inhaling before exhaling twice as loud.

Still, Lucy said nothing, despite his obvious attempts at garnering her attention.

Natsu sunk back even further against her wall, further mussing up her comforter while his lower back screamed at the tough position, but his mind was too preoccupied with other things to really care. He cleared his throat, taking another deep breath before he finally gathered the courage to hesitantly start, "Okay, I'm sorry I drank all of your hot chocolate-"

Lucy cut him off by holding up a hand, not peeling her focus away from her book, "Hush. I'm still mad at you."

"But I'm so-"

"Hussssssshhhh," the blonde hissed more fervently, _still_ not looking his way.

Natsu curled even further into himself, his lips set in a pout.

He'd first come to her dorm with the intention of giving her a 'break' from her studying, having finished all of his own finals and figuring that since he was relaxed and now fully capable of devoting his attention to her, his girlfriend deserved a bit of stress-relief herself and a chance to take her mind off of things.

He hadn't really meant to drink all of her hot chocolate supply…it'd just kinda happened. He'd wanted some hot chocolate when he'd arrived, so he'd gotten himself some from her designated cabinet in her dorm's kitchen while he waited for her to get home like he had during many of his visits since the weather started getting colder. She normally let him have whatever he wanted of the food that she'd bought, so how was he supposed to know that after one particularly rough final exam, all she'd been looking forward to upon getting home was a cup of hot chocolate?

He'd unintentionally ruined that for her, and she'd been a bit snappy with him ever since. Although he was sure that at least part of her mood could be attributed to the fact that it was finals week, it had definitely been worsened when she'd arrived home to find him downing the last of her hot chocolate, which meant that instead of relieving her stress like he'd come with the intention of, it seemed he'd heightened it, at least a little.

And even worse, he had to be to work in about half an hour. If the blonde kept up the silent treatment, which he knew she would because she was stubborn as hell, he'd be leaving without so much as peck on the cheek, which was something far from the goal he'd had in mind upon visiting the blonde.

And it was all because of some damn hot chocolate.

* * *

"Seriously, though…like, who's gonna wanna come see a Santa that's only three feet tall? Why couldn't gramps have just hired some other old-lookin' dude instead of insisting on doing it himself? And what the fuck is up with these striped tights? They're way weirder and tighter than the ones we had to wear last year," Natsu grumbled as he shifted on his feet, pulling at the fabric clinging to his legs and crotch beneath his forest green shorts in a futile attempt to give himself some breathing room.

At the register next to him, Gray only rolled his eyes in response to his salmon haired rival's exasperated stream of questions, fixing the red pointed hat, with elf ears secured to its brim, on his head and chuckling as he recalled Makarov nearly getting squished by some of the children that had sat on his lap earlier, "Levy seemed to think it was pretty funny."

"She was only laughing because she had to come bail Gajeel out of mall jail," the pinkette muttered, going back to curling ribbon for the wrapping station.

"So _that's_ where he disappeared to," Gray shook his head in exasperation, some of his lingering anger from when their coworker had just vanished in the midst of all the chaos during Santa's visit to their section of the Magnolia mall resurfacing. "What'd he do to get himself locked up?"

"He got in trouble for telling the kids in line that Santa wasn't real. The stupid iron freak deserved it."

The raven haired boy quirked a brow when he heard no spite in his rival's tone, only stone cold grumpiness, "What's got you in such a pissy mood? Normally you're all kicks and giggles during Christmas time."

Natsu's hands slowly fell back to the counter, a pair of scissors and a half-curled strand of ribbon still in his grasp, his lips slowly puffing out in a childish pout as he reluctantly admitted with a grumble, "Lucy's mad at me."

A heavy sigh slipped through Gray's lips. He should've known that it would be about Lucy, "What'd your dumb ass do this time?"

"My dumb ass drank all of her hot chocolate."

"Really? That's it?" he quirked an incredulous brow as he huffed out, "You two are really dumb, you know that?"

Natsu's pout only deepened, but for once, he didn't snap back at his rival.

"There's an easy fix to your problem," Gray leaned closer to emphasize the simplicity of his statement as he articulated, "Just buy the girl some damn hot chocolate."

* * *

' _Hey Luce…hot chocolate and chill at my place?_ ;) ;) ;) _'_

' _Please never use that phrase again_ -_- _like ever, seriously…but yes.'_

* * *

Natsu quirked a brow as he watched his girlfriend hop onto his counter to take a seat upon the wood, humming happily to herself as she stirred a mountain of marshmallows into her mug of hot chocolate. He huffed out a laugh as he joked, "Would you like some hot chocolate with your marshmallows, or are you trying to put yourself into a sugar coma?"

Upon shooting a half-assed glare his way, she caught sight of his own mug of hot coco, her eyes widening at what she saw, "You…you don't put marshmallows in your hot chocolate anymore? You heathen!"

For a moment, he debated on what kind of answer he wanted to give her, whether he wanted to spit back his own jab or go another route, quickly deciding on his path with a mischievous smirk splaying across his features as he purred, "Maintaining a body like this isn't easy, princess." He placed his mug on the counter and slid across the tile of his kitchen floor before casually tucking himself between her legs, bracing his hands on either side of her hips.

Seemingly unbothered by his closeness, Lucy only ducked her head to take another sip of her hot chocolate, but Natsu knew her better than that. She liked to pretend he didn't have an effect on her anymore, but he'd seen the slight blush on her cheeks and the tiny slip of her tongue across her lips as she gave him a quick glance up and down.

He tucked his fingers under the hem of her shirt, lightly and teasingly trailing his fingers up the skin on the curve of her hip as he hummed into her ear, "So…you wanna get to the chill part of our hot chocolate and chill _?"_

She gave him a blank stare as she ground out, "If you ask me that one more time, this entire cup of hot chocolate is coming down on your head."

"Ooooh," he chuckled, taking said cup from her hands and setting it to the side, "I like it when you're sassy."

"I know," she cheekily hummed, sliding her arms around his neck and rubbing her nose against his. She gave him a smug grin, "You know, after Gray sent me that picture of you earlier, it was hard to stay mad at you. It had me all out of sorts."

"What?" Natsu deadpanned, all traces of teasing and joking gone from his voice at the sudden mention of his rival, his brows furrowed as he hissed, "What picture?"

The blonde only giggled, trailing a finger down his chest, "You look pretty sexy in striped tights."

"That popsicle's fucking dead!"

His growl was lost to Lucy's mouth as she pressed her lips against his, a playful smirk on her features now that she'd got him all riled up.

* * *

 **AN**

 **Yay for more fluff!**

 **Hint for next chapter: Blankets and fire alarms**


	20. Chapter 20

Lucy couldn't sleep.

She'd been exhausted all day, almost too tired to function, and for the first time in her life she'd nearly fallen asleep in class, her head slipping from where it was propped up on her hand jumpstarting her out of her near-slumber.

Her mind and body were both near their limits, this year's Nutcracker rehearsals on top of the three finals, two presentations, and three papers that college had discharged upon her nearly driving her insane.

Despite her exhaustion, she wouldn't half-ass or give up on any of the commitments she'd made, because that was just who she was. She'd always considered herself an athlete, but that didn't mean that academics weren't incredibly important to her, too. Apart from majoring in ballet, she'd chosen a creative writing minor, and even if her generals were just general credits and all that matter was whether or not she passed them, she gave them her all, using every moment of spare time that she had to study for the courses that rested outside her field of understanding.

Spare time was often hard for her to find though.

Now that she was old enough and able to blend in with the rest of ballerinas in the company, she'd finally been cast in more than one role in Magnolia Ballet Theatre's Nutcracker production this year, having to learn the routines for a female party guest, a snowflake, _and_ a Spanish girl. Her appearances throughout the duration of the ballet were spread out enough to allow her time to breathe and change her costume, but during rehearsals, there was no such thing as breaks. Everything was 'go go go' and she sometimes went through two pairs of pointe shoes a day with how much she was up on her toes. She boasted quite the thick calluses on her feet, something which might've disgusted other girls, but for her, it was a testament of her hard work. Plus, overall they helped her feet hurt less, her skin no longer tender from rubbing against the box of the pointe shoes she wore.

The constant soreness was also something that served more than one purpose. It was similarly a testament of her hard work, but it also made getting up and going places in the morning a pain in the ass. Along with the cold of December, her sore muscles gave her more incentive to stay in bed, making her even grouchier when her mind won the battle over whether or not to go to classes, a pout almost always on her features when she trudged through the snow on campus.

At least today had marked her last day of finals, which meant that tomorrow would be the first day where she didn't have to sit in a desk suffering for two or more hours, and her mind could finally rest easy without the stress and paranoia of what was to come the next day.

She still had to get up early enough to pack her up her entire dorm room before rehearsal since she was staying in a different place for the spring semester, so she couldn't sleep in to her heart's content, but at the very least, she could finally get _some_ rest after the nonstop schedule she'd endured.

Now, if only she could actually fall asleep. She didn't know why, but her mind kept racing about, her thoughts jumping to tomorrow's rehearsal to worrying about how she'd done on her finals to setting up her new room. On top of her restless mind, the heater in her dorm was broken, which was part of why she was moving, leaving the blonde to burrow herself in a mountain of blankets in an attempt to fend off the cold. And of course, someone, somewhere in her dorm building would just not shut up, the sounds of male voice arguing echoing up from the floor beneath hers. She swore she recognized the voices, too, but with how tired she was, she tried to tune the bickering out for the sake of keeping her mind from analyzing the voices of whoever the hell was still up at this late night.

So, with all those factors already keeping her awake, understandably, the fire alarm going off at three in the morning in her dorm was really not what she needed at the moment…but it was what the universe decided to serve to her anyways.

She'd been just slipping into the realm of unconsciousness when the ringing started, her body jolting on the mattress.

In all honesty, she considered just lying there, but Levy's panicked shouting and pounding on her door had her flopping out of her bed and onto her feet with a groan. Her friends probably wouldn't appreciate it if she died just because she was being grouchy and sluggish, and really, when her time came, she either wanted to go out peacefully or like a badass, not like a lazy bum.

Her roommate all but tugged her out of their dorm, only giving the blonde a few seconds to slip on a pair of sneakers before they were out the door. Really, it was a miracle that between her tiredness and the rest of the students shoving themselves down the steps that she didn't fall down the two flights of stairs from the third floor to ground level.

Once she'd been successfully dragged to the parking lot, Lucy watched as a group of firemen shot up the stairs on the outside of the building and charged onto the second floor, her brows furrowing a tiny fraction when it dully resonated with her that she knew a pair of boys who lived on the second floor.

As if on cue, she caught sight of a salmon head of hair bobbing through the sea of sleep-deprived students towards her, not an ounce of sleepiness on her boyfriend's face as he found her standing there, with her arms wrapped around herself, "Hey, Luce! You okay?"

"Yeah…" she mumbled out tiredly, "…just freezing my ass off."

Natsu's hands immediately shot to the hem of his red sweatshirt as if on instinct, "Here. Take my sweatshirt."

Lucy just stood there as he shoved it over her head, her boyfriend pulling back with a content hum when he saw how it practically smothered her smaller frame. The blonde didn't mind much though because it was warm and she was sleepy, only tucking her hands into the front pocket as Natsu placed his chin atop her head and wrapped his arms around her from behind to double his efforts of keeping her warm.

She felt his chest vibrate against her back as he remarked, "Man, this is crazy. I really didn't meant to start a fire, but damn, all these firetrucks are kinda cool-"

"Wait…" Lucy cut him off, her eyelids falling to form suspicious slits as she slipped from his hold to spin around and face him as she lowly hissed, "It was _you_?! How the hell did you start a fire?!"

His brows cinched as he got defensive, "I was making ramen, and-"

"Why the hell were you making ramen at three in the morning?!"

"I was hungry! And it's not my fault the stupid snowflake distracted me! He threw the dish rag at me first, and then I just kinda threw it back! I didn't know that it landed on the burner until I started smelling smoke!"

She punched him in the chest, "You're such an idiot!"

* * *

Lucy awoke to the smell of bacon, which had to be the best awakening she'd had this semester by far.

The second thing she noticed upon drifting into consciousness was the lack of another presence in her bed. She was still warm in her burrow of blankets, but her personal heater was missing, her body now able to fully spread out across the bed without him there. Natsu had practically carried her back to her room last night after he'd been chastised by law enforcement and the students had been cleared to go back to their rooms, the blonde keeping her arms wrapped around his neck as he set her in her bed and trapping him against her to force him and his warmth to stay. They'd fallen asleep while cuddling, the blonde still mad at him, but her sleepiness and desperation for warmth had outweighed her grumpiness.

The second thing she noticed was that she felt way too well rested for it to have been as early as she'd set her alarm. With a groan already slipping up her throat, she peeled her eyes open and tiredly grasped for her phone on her night stand, a miserable pout forming on her features when she saw that it was just past eleven, three hours later than she'd wanted to wake up.

She flopped onto her back as she let her phone clatter back onto the surface of her nightstand, throwing an arm over her eyes and burying her face in the crook of her elbow as she let out another groan. Admittedly, she felt a bit better, but she still didn't want to move from her current spot, her mind already overwhelmed with dread as she ran over possibilities of how the hell she was going to get all of her stuff packed before she had to leave for rehearsal at one.

She grumbled as she tossed her many blankets off, momentarily forcing all thoughts of moving aside as she resolved to figure out which one of her roommates was making bacon and snag some for herself before it was all gone.

Her feet had just barely touched the floor when she froze, her body going still when she caught sight of the mountain of boxes and bins in the corner of her room. Her eyes slowly circled around her room, finding her closet empty, her desk cleared of everything that'd rested on its surface, and her decorations partially taken down. It seemed that nearly everything in her room was shoved into a box except for a few things she'd need for the day, her drawer of dance clothes and sweats left complete untouched.

Intent on finding out who was responsible for the packing of her things during her heavy sleep, she shoved herself to her feet, the blonde immediately greeted by a chipper call upon opening her door.

"Mornin', Luce!"

Natsu gave her a bright grin as she shuffled out of her room, the rubber tongs in his right hand letting her know that he was the culprit, a pan of bacon sizzling on the stove beside him. Part of her screamed at her to tug him away from the burner and never let him cook again with what had happened last night, but without Gray here to pester him this time, she figured he'd be attentive enough. Plus, it seemed he already had proved himself capable, the two plates of scrambled eggs and buttered slices of toast on the counter serving as a testament of his limited cooking skills.

Lucy was still wearing his sweatshirt, the ends of the long sleeves extending past her hands and flopping around as she tiredly wrapped her arms around his waist, burying the side of her head into his chest as she sleepily mumbled, "Morning. Who packed up all my stuff?"

"I did!" he jabbered as he used is tongs to start plucking bacon from the pan and laying it out on the two plates beside him, his other arm wrapping around her in return.

Her brows were furrowed as she pulled back from him a bit to stare at his face blankly, because there was absolutely no way Natsu was capable of being that quiet, "You're…you're joking, right? Someone else did it and you're just trying to take the credit?" It wasn't like she didn't think he would do such a thing, because she knew he had a kind heart. She just really didn't think he was capable of being quiet enough to not wake her up. That, and she was kind of looking for a reason to still be mad at him after what he'd done last night.

He gave her a childish frown, "Of course not. It was all me."

Lucy buried her head back in his chest, tiredly mumbling, "How the hell did you not wake me up? I must've really been out of it…"

"I'm super quiet…like a ninja," he chuckled, gently shoving her away from him a bit so he could pick up the pair of plates and distribute them on her dorm kitchen's tiny table.

Lucy stared after him as he plopped himself in a chair and got ready to dig into the food on his own plate, the blonde's lips settling into a tiny pout. This wasn't the first time he'd made her breakfast, but usually, this much effort was reserved only for her birthday and Valentine's Day, so it was clear to her that he was trying to make up for what he'd done last night. He must've woken up pretty early to pack all of her things for her, so not only did she no longer have to deal with the stress of packing her room, but now she had two hours to do whatever the hell she wanted before rehearsal, a luxury that wasn't often given to her.

And she'd been nothing but a jerk to him.

With her little pout still on her lips, she shuffled closer to him, causing the salmon haired boy to quirk a brow at her, "What's up?"

His eyes widened and he dropped the bacon in his hand as she lifted one of her legs over both of his, her arms winding around his neck as she plopped herself into his lap and hummed into his ear, "Thanks, Natsu."

"Uh…sure thing, Luce." He pressed his lips into a line and puffed his cheeks when she didn't flinch, only continuing to squeeze him tight, "You gonna just stay there?"

"You can keep eating. I don't mind."

He shifted beneath her, "You, uh…you expect me to eat breakfast like this? With you straddling me?"

She happily nuzzled her head into his neck even though she knew full well what he was getting at with the discomfort in his tone, contentedly humming, "Yep."

* * *

 **AN**

 **Yeah, that ending was abrupt and nothing too Christmasy or wintery this time, but we'll be back at it with the next chapter!**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Hint for next chapter: Post-college Christmas party, egg nog induced goofiness**


	21. Chapter 21

Natsu wasn't sure what had happened, but sometime during their annual Christmas get-together with their friends, something had made his girlfriend go absolutely insane. Lucy was extra bubbly on their walk back to their homes, the blonde skipping a few steps ahead of him as she jubilantly hummed the lyrics to a Christmas carol.

The pinkette rolled his eyes and huffed out a breathy chuckle when she nearly tripped after the front of her shoe had caught on a crack in the sidewalk, her near tumble not deterring her happiness one bit as she simply continued to skip along as if nothing had happened.

He supposed she could just be in a good mood considering this year's party had gone miraculously well, which really just meant that there hadn't been much fighting for once, but even by his standards, her skipping and singing was a wee-bit extreme for a display of happiness. It was almost like she was a little kid again, and he was taken back to their early years, when she'd shove snow in his face, glue glitter to his forehead, and whap him around to her heart's content.

When thinking back on things, it was really no wonder he'd fallen for the fiery, stubborn blonde, but how he was deserving of her love was something that he didn't know if he'd ever comprehend. She was an incredible dancer, smarter than anyone else he knew, fucking beautiful, and, most importantly, she had a heart that was ready to take on and embrace the world, both in terms of resilience and kindness.

She was _perfect_ , and he couldn't imagine loving anyone else the way he loved her.

Which was why he was staring at her the way he was as she skipped down the sidewalk in front of him, quiet admiration and affection pooling in his irises with a soft and natural grin quirking the corners of his lips.

"Oooo, Natsu! Let's stop by the park!"

The blonde didn't give him much of a choice, her feet crunching through the snow as she dashed to the play structure that the children of their neighborhood had grown up climbing and sliding on. The paint-chipped and rusted metal of the playground was probably a health hazard by now, but Lucy obviously didn't care, her feet immediately carrying her to the monkey bars.

With his hands in his pockets, Natsu leisurely strolled towards the playground, too, his lips still quirked in a grin as he watched his girlfriend hop up onto one of the grated platforms before using a nearby pole to climb on top of the first rung of the monkey bars, just like she'd done many times during her youth. With a chuckle, he noted that she still wasn't tall enough to reach the monkey bars without getting on the platform first, a task that he could easily accomplish on the ground without even having to raise himself up onto the balls of his feet.

As she sat atop the monkey bars, swinging her feet to the beat of the Christmas carol she was humming, he took a seat on the edge of the two-and-a-half-foot-high platform that she'd used to boost herself up and tucked his hands into the pockets of his coat, contently just chilling there as he listened to his girlfriend's song and watched the light snow flutter through the air.

After a while, he let his eyes fall shut, giving himself a chance to simply take in the fresh, clean scent of the frigid air. While, in terms of weather, he'd always been more of summer-guy, he could always appreciate winter for bringing new beginnings. Winter marked the transition from one year to the next, its snowstorms clearing out pollution and ending old life in nature while making way for the new. Of course, Christmas was another factor that winter had in its favor, so the season still held a special place in his heart.

The salmon haired boy startled and nearly started throwing fists when something suddenly whooshed past his head, accompanied by the brushing of something across his neck. His eyes shot open just as he heard a giggle, a mess of blonde hair swishing through the air before him.

His girlfriend had flipped so that she was now hanging upside down from the monkey bars, her legs and hands keeping her from toppling to the woodchip-covered ground head-first.

Natsu was about to grumble obscenities at her for scaring the shit out of him, but the words died in his throat when he saw the face she was making, their heads nearly level with him sitting and her hanging upside down. Her neck was craned out so that her head was closer to him, her lips pursed and her eyes squeezed tightly shut.

He quirked a brow as he chuckled, "What are you doing?"

Through her pursed lips, Lucy mumbled, "Trying to kiss you."

"You're gonna fall," the salmon haired boy huffed out flatly, still not even leaning even a smidge closer to her.

The blonde sat in silence for a moment before her features morphed into a childish pout, her brows cinching as she grumpily grumbled, "Just shut up and kiss me already, asshole."

He let out another chuckle before leaning forward and happily complying, setting a hand on the side of her head as he pressed his lips against hers. He didn't dare to do anything too intense with the kiss, knowing that making the blonde go further out of sorts would likely result in her slipping from her perch. So he kept his tactics simple, gently and affectionately melding his lips against hers.

In his opinion, the kiss was awkward as hell since his nose kept bumping on her chin, but the blonde seemed to enjoy it, a giggle slipping through her lips as he pulled back.

She kept a tight grip as she pulled the lower half of her legs over the bar and tucked her knees into her chest, her feet slipping past the bar to allow her to unfurl herself facing away from Natsu so she didn't kick him during her dismount.

Her feet hit the woodchip-covered ground just as an amazed gasp slipped through her lips, her eyes sparkling as she gazed at the white blanketed field of snow to their left as if she was seeing it for the first time. She whirled around to face him, singing a certain tune as she asked, "Do you wanna build a-"

"Absolutely not," Natsu cut her off sharply, his brows furrowed as his suspicion about the blonde's actions grew. He shook his head in disbelief as he huffed out, "God, did someone spike the egg nog?" Lucy had chugged quite a bit of it at the party, just like she did every year since the drink was only available during the fall and winter seasons.

He would definitely be talking to Cana about his suspicions later since he figured she was the most likely culprit.

Just like when he'd first denied her a kiss, Lucy's features settled into a grumpy pout as she sharply grumbled, "You. Me. Snowman. Now."

"Alright, fine. We'll build a snowman," he held his hands up in surrender, not wanting to risk receiving a Lucy kick. God, he hoped his girlfriend wasn't a violent drunk like Erza was. The blonde was still underage, and since she was rule follower through and through, he'd never seen her drunk before. He was getting his first glimpses of it now though if his suspicions were correct, and so far, she wasn't half bad. He'd rather deal with giggly and bubbly instead of depressed or angry, so he was fine with doing whatever she wanted along as it didn't lead to her losing her cool.

The blonde automatically put him to work with pushing around the snowballs she'd started around the field, not doing much to help him as he lifted one of their balls on top of the other. He thought she might force him to make a third ball to stack on top of the other two, but she was kneeling down as soon as he'd secured the second to give their snowman a face, her hands working daftly to place the things she'd gathered while he'd been at work.

"He's so cute!" she hummed happily as she shot to her feet, clasping her hands together in front of her chest as she happily skipping around their work to admire it.

"Uh, yeah…sure," Natsu tentatively mumbled out from where he stood a few feet away, looking over their snowman with an eyebrow raised.

He was fat and short, his arms lopsided and one of his eyes bigger than the other. If the blonde had been sober, he was sure that she would've been more meticulous in her gathering of items to decorate their snowman with, and everything would've been perfectly even.

"I think I'm gonna call him Plue," she giggled.

Natsu could help but smile as she knelt down to wrap her arms around their snowman's neck, nuzzling against the packed snow and humming nonsense to it.

Yeah...he was definitely in love with her, and not even the fact that she was a giggly and hyperactive drunk could change that.

* * *

 **AN**

 **We've done quite a bit of exploring Lucy's feelings for Natsu in this fic, so I figured it was time for the reverse! Also, winter's my favorite season, so I couldn't help but drabble about a few of my favorite things about it. Plus, we finally got our snowman :)**

 **As always, thanks for reading!**

 **Hint for next chapter: Christmas cookies**


	22. Chapter 22

"Where did the whisk-" Lucy's voice cut off as her gaze found her boyfriend, her anger spiking as she hissed, "I told you not to lick it!"

Natsu only gave her a smug grin as he ran his tongue along one of the thin, metal strands, "Babe, it's either you or the whisk."

If he'd used that line at a different time, it might have worked and had her melting into a helpless puddle, but with the blonde being as ticked off as she was, his smirk had absolutely no effect.

Making cookies was not supposed to be this difficult, but with Natsu, and his ever-unchanging rambunctiousness, around, the once simple-enough task had become quite the frustration-inducing chore. She didn't know how much dough she'd lost to his tummy, but she was dreading what would happen once it came time to frost the cookies, knowing that any form of icing had been one of his guilty pleasures since he was just a kid. Grandeeny had told her dozens of stories about him swiping his finger through her frosting bowl and even just plain licking the frosting off of the cookies, her tales ranging from when he was just three all the way up into his teens.

And Lucy, better than anyone, knew that that the salmon haired boy hadn't changed one bit in that sense.

He'd once told her that maintaining a body like his was no easy feat, but she'd called bullshit on that a thousand times over. With how much he ate, and with _what_ he ate, it seemed like keeping in shape was as easy as breathing for him, and that was another thing that frustrated her to no end. It just wasn't fair how he could eat whatever he wanted and still look hot as fuck, and to make things worse, he used that fact to his advantage at every moment he got.

Like now, with his tongue sliding all over that damn whisk. Sure, he might've been doing it in part to get the dough, but his words had given his true intentions away. He was trying to get her all riled up, not in the furious sense if that smirk was anything to go by, but anger was about all the blonde felt towards him at the moment.

She planted her hands on her hips as she whipped around to face him, fixing him with a glare and cinching her brows in anger, "Can you _please_ stop being such an ass?" They'd been the pair tasked with making cookies for their annual Christmas get-together with their friends, and with how much dough the salmon haired boy had eaten, she wasn't sure if they could deliver on the number of cookies Erza had asked of them.

He pursed his lips as if in thought for a moment before waving the whisk through the air as he spoke, "You know how you once told me that since you're a dancer, it's hard for you to sit still? Well, you see, I'm annoying, soooooo…" he gave her a bright grin, "I just can't help it."

Lucy let out something akin to a growl, her lips puckered in anger.

The blonde wasn't sure what made her do it, but the eggs were just sitting _right there._ And he was making it _so damn hard_ to get things done.

Her hand moved to sharply pluck an egg from the cartridge, the salmon haired boy flinching as she slammed it against the side of his head.

His eyes slowly peeled open a short moment after the impact to go wide, blankly staring at her as he mumbled, "Did…did you just smash an egg on me?"

Lucy's eyes were wide, too, as she slowly pulled her hand back, the whites of the egg stringing from her fingers to his temple. She couldn't believe she'd just done that, but hell, had it felt good. A shocked, but still pleasant giggle slipped through her lips, "I…yeah. I guess I did."

He quirked a brow at her stammering before a dangerous light of excitement pooled in his irises, his features shifting to something akin to the expression he wore whenever someone challenged him to a brawl.

The egg insides matting his salmon strands on the side of his head didn't seem to bother him as he let out a deep chuckle, his lips curling as he began, "You should know not to provoke me by now, Luce."

When his hand started towards the carton of eggs, Lucy's eyes widened and she whipped around to bolt in whatever direction would get her away from her boyfriend the fastest. But his free hand shot out to snatch her wrist, capturing her within arms distance as he brought the egg in his hand down on the crown of her head.

"Natsu!" Lucy shrieked as egg slid down her hair from the top of her head, plastering some of her golden strands to her skin. Acting on instinct now, she yanked her wrist free, swiping some flour from where she'd sprinkled it into a pile on the countertop for rolling out the dough. She knocked over her carton of milk in the process, sending the milk splattering across the floor, but she was too focused on her counterattack to really care.

The salmon haired boy wasn't prepared for her retaliation, one of his hands shooting up in a vain and futile attempt at shielding his face from her handful of flour.

With her shoddy and rushed aim, most of the white powder ended up shooting through the air beside his head instead of plastering against his face like she'd intended upon chucking it towards him, but at least she'd hit the side of his head that she'd smashed the egg against, his salmon strands now caked with a sticky mixture of egg insides and flour.

He stood completely still with his eyes closed as he huffed out a cough, the puff of flour that escaped his lips resembling a stream of smoke.

Lucy had to keep herself from giggling, quietly noting in her mind that that action had made him look like a dragon.

The flour that still caked his eyelids didn't stop him from getting revenge, the salmon haired boy blindly charging towards her. He slipped on the spilt milk with his first step, his body slamming into hers on the way down and sending them both toppling into the puddle of milk on the floor.

Lucy groaned as he finally pushed himself up onto his hands and knees to rid her of his weight, her hand going to the new tender spot on the back of her head. She peeled her eyes open to glare at the salmon haired boy on top of her, but looking up at him steadily was hard, flour floating down from his skin and into her eyes.

He must've misinterpreted her quick blinking for trying to clear tears out of her eyes or something of the sort, his brows furrowing in worry, which only sent more flour drifting from his skin, as he lightly questioned, "What's the matter?"

"You have flour all over your face," she grumbled, now rubbing at her eyes with the backs of her hands.

"Hmm, I wonder why?" he spat sarcastically.

Lucy wanted to be just as snarky with her reply, but before she could form any words, another groan was forced from her lips instead as Natsu all but collapsed onto her, seemingly giving up on holding himself up. He let out a heavy sigh as he settled on top of her, pretending to be oblivious to the fact that he was practically suffocating her as he nuzzled his flour-covered face against hers to spread the white powder to her skin.

Her hands found his shoulder as she shoved the stubborn lump that was her boyfriend with all of her might, "Natsu, stop! Get off!"

The salmon haired boy only nuzzled his hard even further into the junction of her neck and shoulder, his lips brushing against her skin as he mumbled with a pout, "I don't wanna get up. My tummy hurts…I think I overdosed on dough."

"That's your own fault, dummy," she halfheartedly chastised, one of her hands unconsciously moving to thread through his egg-and-flour-caked, salmon locks as she remarked with a heavy sigh, "We're definitely gonna be late to the party."

"I'm okay with that," he breathed out, his breath puffing against her skin. She could feel him smile smugly against her neck, "I could stay like this all day. Screw the party."

She rolled her eyes as she pushed herself up onto her elbows, staring down at him as he shifted so that his chin rested on her chest, "You know that Erza will kill us both if we don't show."

A shiver quickly ricocheted up and down his spine as an image of the blonde's words flashed in his mind, "Yeah…I guess you're right."

* * *

 **AN**

 **Idk if y'all have ever had a food fight, but let me tell ya, it's one of the best things in the moment. Cleaning up afterwards sucks, but it sure as hell makes a good memory**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Hint for next time: Glitter Wars**


	23. Chapter 23

**I guess some people didn't get notified when I updated yesterday, but I did, so just know that the chapter is there. Fanfiction was just being dumb, I guess...**

* * *

"I swear, Natsu Dragneel, I will stab you with this candy cane!"

Lucy wasn't quite sure how it had come to this; how things had escalated this far, and at such a rapid pace, too.

She and her boyfriend had been decorating their new apartment together for Christmas for their first time, a task that the blonde had thought would be relaxing and satisfying since she already had a layout for the decorations she'd received from her parent's home in mind. Since it was their first apartment together, they'd rented something relatively small, and she'd felt she could only hope that it was big enough to withhold the overwhelming amount of Christmas spirit and pizzazz she and her boyfriend deemed usual, because their parents certainly hadn't raised them to be sissies when it came to all things Christmas.

She should have known that since her boyfriend was who he was, nothing in life would ever really be relaxing and calm, in most cases, his hyperactive mind and untamable goofiness adding more vibrancy to her days.

And while today was certainly more colorful, quite literally in the physical sense, than most because of him, she really wasn't too thrilled about it.

Thanks to Natsu, she was sure that she'd have glitter on her body for the rest of her life, and god help her when it came time to move out of their tiny apartment, because she knew that there'd be glitter _everywhere_ , even behind the couch, in the cupboards, in between the floorboards, and in literally _everything_ in the apartment.

And sure, the fact that there was glitter _everywhere_ was partially her fault as well, but _he'd_ been the one to start it, the one to dump that first container of glitter on her head because he thought it would be funny and he thought she was cute when she was mad. If she didn't know him as well as she did, she might've thought that he'd be beyond such acts of immaturity now that he was twenty-three, but really, she supposed that she wasn't really any better, because she'd launched the contents of another container right back at him after his first assault.

She'd chucked that glitter his way with the intent of getting back at him, but he'd taken receiving that clump of sparkling plastic to the face as a declaration of war, and all glitter-hell had quickly broken lose.

And their poor cat. He'd only been part of their family for a few months, ever since they'd moved in to the apartment, and yet again, he was facing a rather mortifying introduction to the couple's antics.

Happy had gotten caught in the crossfire, or rather, his fur had collected the fallout as he'd run to seek shelter beneath the couch. He now had a rather magical, rainbow shimmer to his blue coat, the flecks catching in the light of the multi-colored, tiny Christmas tree they'd shoved in the corner when he poked his head out to watch his owners duel.

Lucy was braced in a defensive pose on the sofa above him, one of her hands holding a pillow in front of herself like a shield and the other raising a pointed candy cane like a sword.

Natsu was on the other side of their coffee table, the last cartridge of glitter in his right hand, a wicked smirk on his features as he ruffled his hair, a whole rainbow of glitter drifting into the air around him and fluttering to the ground to join the piles that already rested there, "I've got you cornered now, Luce."

"Don't come any closer!" she shrieked, raising her pillow-shield defensively.

Her shriek seemed to startle Happy from his place of refuge, the feline bolting across the floor and trying to claw up Natsu's leg, the salmon haired boy hissing as claws met skin, "Happy!"

Lucy utilized the distraction, being careful not to hurt Happy as she leapt from her place on the couch to tackle her boyfriend to the floor of their kitchen, the cartridge of glitter clattering from his hand to the floor and losing its contents in the process.

"Haha! I win!" the blonde jeered victoriously, placing her hands on his chest to push herself up, but still not moving from where she was straddling his hips.

"Whaaaaat," he moaned beneath her, "who said?"

"I did. I'm on top, so that means I win," she beamed triumphantly.

Natsu let out a deep chuckle, a smug grin splaying across his features, "Well, normally, I'm the top, so-"

She pressed a finger to his mouth and rolled her eyes, "Hush. _I_ won, so that means _you_ have to string the Christmas lights."

* * *

Natsu grumbled out wordless complaints under his breath as he went about stringing lights where the walls met the ceiling in their tiny living room, having to scooch his stool to the left for what felt like the thousandth time.

He thought that his girlfriend might try to help him even though she'd won because that was the kind of girl she was, but she was just sitting on their couch beneath the lights he'd already strung, staring at him as he worked while she sipped a large mug of hot chocolate and scratched the head of the blue furred feline in her lap.

Earlier, she'd been attempting to vacuum up the carnage of their glitter war, but apparently, watching him string lights was much more entertaining and worth her time. She'd been watching him for about fifteen minutes now, only getting up once to make herself a cup of hot chocolate and switch on some quiet Christmas tunes.

He turned over his shoulder for his periodic check, "These even?"

Her eyes shot up to meet his, "The last one needs to come a little to the right."

Natsu only narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he continued to stare back at her, because he knew damn well that the last one _did not_ need to come a little to the right since he'd measured the distance between each light using the span of his own hand. His suspicions arose from the fact that every time he'd looked back at her, she'd had to lift her gaze to meet his face, which meant that she hadn't really been watching him work, but she sure as hell had been staring at him.

He continued to give her his suspicious, narrow-eyed stare as he ground out, "Do you keep telling me to fix things just so you can stare at my ass?"

She only lifted her brows and took another seemingly innocent sip of her hot chocolate, "Maybe."

"I knew it," he hissed, nearly giving Lucy a heart attack as he spun around to face her on the stool and plop his butt down upon it all at once. It was miracle he didn't topple over and face-plant on the floor in the process of facing her, but really, to her chagrin, he wasn't much of a klutz like she could be at times.

Natsu folded his arms over his chest as he kept her pinned with his stare, his voice taking on a teasing lilt, "Just you wait. I'm gonna string the rest of these lights faster than you've ever seen anyone string any lights ever and then I'm gonna show just how awesome my ass really is."

Lucy stared at him in blank silence for a moment before she quirked a brow, "Was…was that supposed to be some kind of threat?"

"Nope. It was a promise."

She let out an incredulous laugh, her brows still furrowed as she watched him climb back onto his stool to resume his task, "Are you going to strip for me or something?"

"Only if you're nice."

She didn't know what'd gotten into boyfriend, other than lots of glitter from inhalation, but she wasn't one to dismiss a chance at seeing him show off the ass she'd been admiring, quirking a mischievous brow as she went to take another sip of her hot chocolate, "I'll be looking forward to it then."

* * *

 **AN**

 **Yeah, I'm not sure what that ending was, but I'm on Team Playful and Teasing Nalu Is Best Nalu**

 **In response to FairyTail9908, all I will say is: patience ;)**

 **Thanks for all of your support and thanks for reading!**

 **Hint for next chapter: "Oh no, the power's out so the heat doesn't work, how on earth will we stay warm?" ;) (I'm gonna say that this is the one that gets a bit lemony, but really, the last three have all had implications of a lemon, soooo….)**


	24. Chapter 24

"Good news," Natsu hummed as he stepped back into his apartment, his keys clattering against the counter as he tossed them aside. "Work's been canceled cause the power's out there, too."

He heard a muffled, though genuinely pleased sounding, "Yay!"

With an amused grin quirking his lips, his gaze slid across the candlelit living room to the source of the exclamation.

Lucy was still where he'd left her when he first went out to try and demolish the mountain of snow around his car, the blonde swaddled in a pile of blankets on the couch with only her eyes visible through a tiny crack. She hadn't taken well to the power outage that'd swept Magnolia with the latest blizzard, snow still falling from the sky without end and piling on top of the nearly four feet of snow already on the ground. The power outage meant that the heat didn't function, which meant that there apartment was cold as hell, and it seemed that not even a mountain of blankets was enough for the blonde, a pout on her features as she slipped her arms out of her cocoon and held them out, "Get over here and hug me so I can get warm."

Natsu rolled his eyes at her neediness before he stepped on the heels of his snow boots so he could slide them off by the door, tossing his snow covered beanie and coat over the back of one of the wooden chairs at their kitchen table so they could dry. Though, with how cold it was, they probably wouldn't be dry for days. The sweatpants he'd worn outside were absolutely soaked too, so he decided to strip them off as well and add them to the pile on the back of the chair, leaving him in just his boxers, a plain white shirt, and his socks.

Their apartment was relatively tiny, but the distance from their door to the couch where his girlfriend sat couldn't have been greater, the cold biting his skin and his feet by means of the hardwood floor as he all but sprinted the short gap between them.

Lucy unfolded the mass of blankets she'd wrapped around herself when she saw him coming, her brows furrowed and her hands clenched as the shivers threatened to take hold of her once more, "Hurry! The cold's getting in!"

He practically barreled into the small opening she'd given him, tucking himself right into her side as she closed the pile of blankets around them once more. He supposed that Lucy's obsession with fuzzy and warm things was finally coming in handy, and now he was silently grateful for the fact that she'd ignored him every time he'd said they already had more than enough blankets at home. He'd never been more appreciative of their massive stash of blankets than he was now, except for maybe when they'd made that tiny fort in their living room that one time when they were both sick and spent the day doing nothing but watching movies, because that had been pretty cool, too.

Speaking of Lucy's obsession with warm and fuzzy things, he noticed that the third member of their tiny household was nowhere in sight, his eyebrows furrowed as he asked, "Where's Happy?"

"He snagged one of your sweatshirts from the hamper and bundled up in it under the bed. I couldn't get him to come out, so I guess he's pretty warm there." Lucy snuggled up against his side, gladly accepting the invitation when he lifted one his arms and a pout pursing her lips when he placed that arm around her shoulders, "Why didn't you go put on some different clothes before getting in here with me, dummy? Your skin's freezing. _You're_ supposed to be warming _me_ up, not the other way around."

Her actions contradicted the annoyance in her words, because she still didn't pulled away from his side, the blonde even taking the hand of the arm that wasn't wrapped around her shoulders and rubbing it between both of her own.

The corner of the pinkette's lips quirked at her silly pettiness, smugness in his tone as he teased, "Because they say skin to skin contact is best for keeping warm."

Lucy gave him a blank stare in the dim light they had in their cocoon of blankets. She should've known that that was where his mind was headed since it seemed like even after nearly five years of being a couple, he couldn't get enough of her. She couldn't really blame him though, because she was exactly the same. Her lifelong best friend really had grown up to be a sexy little stud muffin, one that she found hard to resist even after all these years.

She let out a heavy sigh when she felt herself wanting to give in to him, her desire for warmth melding into her desire to be as close to him as possible. It wasn't like they had much else to do anyways since it was freezing and the power was out, their cocoon of warmth beneath the blankets on their couch being their only solace. And they'd probably be stuck there for a while since there wasn't any sign of the blizzard being over soon, so they might as well make use of the time they had together without his work or her rehearsals getting in the way.

The blonde gave her boyfriend a sideways glance, her eyes half-lidded as she hummed innocently, "Then in that case, wanna help me get this sweater off?"

He snickered, obviously pleased she'd given in as his hands shot to them hem of her sweater, "Of course, love."

Her skin tingled as his cold fingers brushed against the curves of her hips, and the second the sweater was free of her head, his mouth was on hers, his lips tingling now, as well. Her arms wrestled with the blankets around them to get around his neck, pressing her lips against his with just as much ferocity as him, letting out a muffled hum into his mouth when he shifted so that he was in between her legs as he started gently shoving her backwards so he could crawl on top of her.

The blonde was completely content with everything that was happening until her back hit the cushions, her head slamming against the wooden armrest of their couch.

Her hand shot from where it'd been tangling in her boyfriend's hair to the back of her head, "Ow!"

Natsu hissed, almost as if he'd been the one to hit his head, as his hand landed on top of hers to help her fingers in the quest of relieving her pain by rubbing the tender spot, "Sorry, Luce! I just can't really see what's happenin' with all these blankets."

"Its…its fine," she grumbled, her eyes squeezing shut with the pain. "Just…just give me a second."

He pouted down at her in guilt, eventually settling for trying to distract her from her pain by peppering kisses across her jawline, his teeth briefly catching her earlobe before he trailed kisses down her neck and over her collarbone.

When her hand returned to his hair, he parted from her skin, his brows furrowed as he questioned in a light voice, "You okay?"

"Yeah," she hummed softly, gently threading her fingers through his salmon strands.

He pressed himself up so that he was kneeling over her head again, leaning down to plant a gentle, but still overwhelmingly affection kiss on her mouth before he pulled back once more to give her a soft grin, "I'll make it up to you tenfold."

"I know you will," she giggled, rubbing her nose against his in a butterfly kiss.

Natsu could be an impulsive and easily-excitable dummy sometimes, but he could be insanely sweet, too, which was side of him that only she, a few select others, ever got to see. She loved every second that she spent with him, but it was those moments where he was soft, where he proved to her how big his heart really was, that she treasured and made her love him more.

* * *

 **AN**

 **This is why I don't write lemons, because I seriously can't resist adding stupid stuff like Lucy hitting her head on the armrest.**

 **Anyways, thanks for reading! Merry Christmas Eve!**

 **Hint for our FINAL chapter: Natsu _finally_ works up the courage to do what you've all been waiting for. **


	25. Chapter 25

**MERRY CHRISTMAS, MY LOVELY READERS! I hope you're enjoying your day, and I hope you enjoy this final chapter!**

* * *

The street was beautiful, to say the least. Christmas lights of all different shapes and colors hung from the rooftops of the surrounding buildings and swirled around the trunks and branches of trees, and every single shop had windows that were filled with gifts donning magnificent bows and beautifully wrapped boxes. Snow lined the cobblestone path, and holiday music was playing over the speakers, pleasantly wafting through the air for all of the passerby to hear.

The Magnolia Christmas Market had really outdone itself with their decorating this year, and Lucy had long since decided that of all the years she'd lived in the small town and of all the Christmas markets she'd attended in its central plaza, that this was the best, both in terms of scale and quality. And with the market nearly empty since it was Christmas day, it was the perfect place for a peaceful and pleasant stroll with her boyfriend.

Now if only Natsu would get the message and adhere to the 'pleasant' part of that description. He had let her loop her arm through his and rest her head on his shoulder, but his entire frame had been incredibly tense all the while. He was barely talking to her, and he wouldn't even look at her, his gaze devotedly staring at anything that wasn't the blonde at his side.

They'd had a bit of a fight before they left their apartment, a fairly petty and inconsequential one by Lucy's standards, but it seemed like Natsu was making it out to be a much bigger deal. Her boyfriend, the dummy, had thought it would be a good idea to try and force a holiday sweater onto their cat, and, needless to say, Happy hadn't been too happy about it. She'd always known that the pinkette had an overwhelming amount of Christmas spirit, but really, she thought that a Christmas sweater on their cat was a bit much, and she'd made sure that he heard her opinion loud and clear as she'd cleaned and bandaged the scratches on his arms.

Despite all of that, it'd been a fight without much substance, so she had no idea why Natsu was so hung up on it. He was still giving her the silent treatment and looking anywhere but at her, and she could feel how tense he was as she leaned against him with her arm looped through his. What made the blonde even more perplexed was that _he_ had been the one to insist they go out on a walk through the market this year instead of staying in their apartment or at his parents all day like they normally did on Christmas, yet he was still upset, and Lucy would even say that he seemed a bit anxious for some reason.

Whatever that reason was, Lucy hoped it was worth sacrificing the pleasant stroll with her boyfriend she'd been envisioning, because other than Natsu's grouchiness, everything about this moment was perfect. Well, the cold was a bit bothersome since it was making her lips dry, but it wasn't anything she couldn't chase away with a layer of lip balm.

She pulled the tube out of her pocket for her second application of the night, removing the lid before twisting the bottom of the tube and sliding it across her chapped lips. Her mouth settled into a pout when, of all things, _that_ finally got Natsu to break his silence, his voice suddenly light as if he hadn't been mad at all as he asked, "Oooo, can I use some of that?"

The blonde glanced over at him to find that he was licking his own lips, and although his lips were visibly chapped, he didn't seem to be licking them out of an attempt to gain relief. It looked like he was doing it a bit more out of… _nervousness_ , dare she say?

Regardless, her lip balm was very important to her, so she curled her hand around it and pulled it close to her chest, fixing him with a glare, "Ew, you can't put your mouth on my lip balm."

Natsu gave her a blank stare in silence for a moment before he was flatly remarking, "You had your tongue in my mouth, like, twenty-five minutes ago."

The blonde pursed her lips, keeping the tube tucked into her chest for a few seconds before holding it out to him with a heavy sigh, "Fine."

She watched him swipe it across his lips with furrowed brows. Was that just her, or was his hand actually shaking? She didn't think it was _that_ cold, and normally Natsu didn't get the shivers, but maybe he was starting to feel sick or something? Was that why he was so quiet and tense?

She dismissed the thought when he passed back her lip balm, the pinkette holding out his elbow for her to take hold of again before going back to giving her the silent treatment as they turned down the path that would lead them to the center of the plaza, where the seventy-foot Christmas tree resided.

Lucy rested her head back against Natsu's shoulder as they made their way towards it, sighing in content as her eyes followed the swirling strands of Christmas lights as they wound their way towards the giant golden star at the very top. She didn't think she'd ever get tired of staring up at it and she hoped Natsu would give her a moment to stop and stare at it instead of just continuing past.

They made it to the base, and it seemed like Natsu was fine with stopping there for a minute too, his steps slowing to a halt in sync with the blonde's.

His arm suddenly shifted in her hold once they'd come to a stop, "Can I have my arm back for a second?"

Her answer came in the form of her arm disentangling from his, her hands going into the pockets of her coat to keep warm while he was doing whatever had him occupied. Her focus continued to wind up and down the tree, which hadn't changed much since they were little kids, but it was still as magnificent as ever, and just as awe-worthy.

There was the gentle sound of someone clearing their throat behind her, and that was when she realized that Natsu's warmth was gone from her side.

"Um…Luce?"

She spun around slowly, something about the way his voice sounded making her realize that _something_ was up. His voice had sounded choked, almost like he was crying, which had her slightly worried, because Natsu only cried when he was absolutely devastated or the moment meant a lot to him.

Upon catching sight of him, she knew right away why he'd sounded the way he did, tears gathering in her own eyes as her hands shot to cover her mouth.

It seemed that the moment had finally come, the moment their parents had been teasing them about practically their entire lives, the moment their friends had been betting on for years.

He was down on one knee, his hands visibly shaking as he held out an opened ring box for her to see. Despite the tears in his eyes, there was a soft grin on his face, a subtle quiver in his voice as he began, "I love you, and…I want to spend my forever with you."

The first of the blonde's tears slipped free.

"Lucy…" a little nervous laugh slipped through his before he finished his proposal, the possibility of what was about to be making him giddy. But he quickly got himself back under control, his voice full of love and sincerity as he asked, "…will you marry me?"

 _Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes._

Through the cluster of emotion in her throat, only one managed to make it through Lucy's lips, her trembling hands pulling away from her mouth as she hurriedly nodded her head and shakily breathed out, "Yes."

She only got the briefest glimpse of the massive, bright smile that broke out on his lips before he launched himself at her, his arms flying around her and squeezing her tighter than they ever had before. If her arms hadn't been trapped between their chests, she would've hugged him back, but since they were successfully squashed between them, she settled for burying her face in his chest, soaking the outside of his coat.

Finally, he was hers and she was his, the two of them forever only belonging to each other.

Her hands were shaking as he hurriedly pulled back and excitedly slid the ring onto her finger, more tears streaming down her cheeks as she looked over the ring, a silver band that split into two twisted stands on either side of the modest diamond that shone like a star in the middle.

It was simple, but it was _perfect._

As his hands settled on her hips to keep her close, she let out an embarrassed giggle and swiped at the tears on her cheeks, her eyes always either on the boy who was now her _fiancé_ or the ring he'd placed on her finger, "God, I'm a mess."

He gave her a soft smile, one of his hands straying from her hip to gently brush the tears from her skin as he hummed, "You're beautiful."

Her heart warmed, her voice fully of nothing but sincerity as she returned the favor he'd offered her earlier, "I love you, Natsu."

It looked like he was getting ready to say it back, but she placed her hands on his cheeks before he could utter a single word, lifting herself up on the balls of her feet to gently and sweetly press her lips against his.

He wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her even closer and help keep her on the balls of her feet, smiling softly against the gentle, but sweet pressure of her lips as they kissed in the light of the Christmas tree.

Their relationship had started with a war of Christmas lights, their bond growing ever stronger over years of awkward mishaps, some of which they'd rather forget. But what really mattered was that their tale ended happily, the pair forever sealed together with a promise of eternity.

* * *

 **AN**

 **AAAHHH I hope that wasn't too cheesy. I was debating between about four different proposal options (one was putting the ring in her stocking, or in the very last box of an advent calendar, or just that it was one of her presents on Christmas morning) but I figured that Natsu would probably just do it in a simple and straightforward, but sweet way, so we ended up in the Christmas Market on Christmas Day!**

 **I'm sorry we didn't get a Christmas with their kids, like some of you were asking for, but…maybe next year.**

 **When I first came up with this idea of making a fic with an update everyday, I didn't think I would be able to do it because of school and work and the like. But I actually did it, and I'm pleased to say that for once, I'm actually pretty happy with how it's turned out.**

 **I want to take this final chance to say a major THANK YOU to all of those who favorited, followed, and reviewed, and to all my readers in general. Like I've said before, fluffy stuff really isn't my forte, so I was positively overwhelmed with your guys' support and love for this fic! So really, THANK YOU SO MUCH!**

 **Signing off for the last time,**

 **~McSquidster**


End file.
